Grammar: Adjectives

Italian adjectives usually come after the noun they modify, contrary to English where adjectives typically precede the noun. For instance, you would say ‘un libro interessante’ (an interesting book), as opposed to ‘an interesting book’.
An important aspect of Italian adjectives is the agreement rule. Adjectives must match the noun they are modifying in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural). For example, ‘un ragazzo simpatico’ (a nice boy) and ‘una ragazza simpatica’ (a nice girl).
When forming the feminine from the masculine, typically the ‘-o’ ending changes to ‘-a’, and the ‘-i’ ending changes to ‘-e’ in the plural. For example, ‘ragazzo simpatico’ (nice boy), ‘ragazza simpatica’ (nice girl), ‘ragazzi simpatici’ (nice boys), ‘ragazze simpatiche’ (nice girls).

While normally Italian adjectives follow the noun, placing an adjective before the noun can often change the meaning or give the phrase a different nuance. For example ‘un grande uomo’ (a great man) vs. ‘un uomo grande’ (a big man).
A few adjectives have completely different meanings depending on whether they’re placed before or after the noun. For example, ‘un vecchio amico’ means ‘an old friend’ as in long-time, where as ‘un amico vecchio’ means ‘an elderly friend’.

Be aware of irregular adjectives, which do not follow the normal rules of adjective agreement. For instance, ‘grande’ becomes ‘grandi’ in the plural irrespective of gender, and ‘buono’ has four forms: ‘buono’, ‘buona’, ‘buoni’, ‘buone’ according to the gender and number of the noun it is modifying.

The comparative form of adjectives is usually created with ‘più … di’ (more … than) or ‘meno … di’ (less … than). For example, ‘più alto di’ (taller than).
The superlative form is made by placing ‘il più’ or ‘la più’ before the adjective. For example, ‘il più bello’ (the most beautiful).
Some adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms which need to be learned by heart. For example, ‘buono’ becomes ‘migliore’ in the comparative and ‘il migliore’ in the superlative.

Remember to always ensure proper agreement in gender and number when using adjectives.
Note the particularities of adjectives that swap meaning based on their position in the sentence.
Remember the irregular comparative and superlative forms of certain adjectives.