Adjectives 1

NOTES

(by DuoItalian)

Adjectives (aggettivi) are words that describe a noun. Unlike the English language, Italian adjectives most often follow the noun.

• È una lingua difficile. (It is a difficult language.)
• Marina è una ragazza generosa. (Marina is a generous girl.)

However, there are some common adjectives that generally come before the noun.

• Anna è una cara amica. (Anna is a dear friend.)
• Gino è un bravo dottore. (Gino is a good doctor.)
• È un brutt’affare. (It’s a bad situation.)

The most common adjectives that come before the noun in Italian are listed below:

bello	beautiful	grande	large, great
bravo	good, clever	lungo	long
brutto	ugly	nuovo	new
buono	good, well	piccolo	small, little
caro	dear, cute	stesso	same
cattivo	bad	vecchio	old
giovane	young	vero	true

But even these adjectives must follow the noun for emphasis or contrast, and when modified by an adverb.

• Oggi non porta l’abito vecchio, porta un abito nuovo. (Today he is not wearing the old suit, he is wearing a new suit.)
• Abitano in una casa molto piccola. (They live in a very small house.)

TIP: There are many similar adjectives in Italian for the English “short” that have varying meanings.

• When referring to height, a person or object is either alto (tall) or basso (short).
• The adjective breve is used when discussing a (short) length of time.
• Things, body parts, and everything else is either lungo (long) or corto (short).

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VOCABULARY

(from Duolingo)

nuovo	new
vecchio	old
stesso	same
diverso	different
possibile	possible
impossibile	impossible
bello	beautiful, pretty
buono	good, well
bravo	good, clever
alto	tall, high
basso	short (height), low
internazionale	international
nazionale	national
straniero	foreigner, stranger
caro	expensive, dear
economico	cheap
gratuito	free (item)
libero	free (person)
ricco	rich
famoso	famous
popolare	popular
importante	important
utile	useful
moderno	modern
quotidiano	daily
elettrico	electrical
chiuso	closed
interessante	interesting
unico	unique, only
speciale	special
perfetto	perfect
capace	capable
forte	strong
strano	strange
pesante	heavy
pericoloso	dangerous
grosso	big, thick
solo	alone, only
difficile	difficult
grasso	fat
duro	tough, hard
intero	entire, whole
lungo	long
corto	short (length)
pieno	full
prossimo	next
facile	easy
sicuro	sure
comune	common
normale	normal
vero	true
giusto	just, right, fair
certo	certain
pronto	ready
giovane	young
chiaro	clear
caldo	hot
freddo	cold
breve	short (time)

 

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