Italian Adjetives

Adjectives that end in -e do not need to modify their endings for gender. Their endings change to "i" only depending on whether the noun is singular or plural. Examples:

  • Il libro verde  »  the green book
  • La porta verde  »  the green door
  • I libri verdi  »  the green books
  • Le porte verdi  »  the green doors
There are quite a few other exceptions for forming plural adjectives. For instance, adjectives that end in -io (with the stress falling on that i) form the plural with the ending -ii: addio/addii; leggio/leggii; zio/zii. The table below contains a chart of other irregular adjective endings you should know.
Singular Ending Plural Ending Singular Ending Plural Ending
-ca -che -ga -ghe
-cia -ce -gia -ge
-cio -ci -gip -gi
-co -chi -glia -glie
-scia -sce -glio -gli
-scio -sci -go -ghi

Examples:

  • pacifico pacific (m) » pacifici pacific
  • pacifica pacific (f) » pacifiche pacific
  • largo large (m) » larghi large
  • larga large (f) » larghe large
  • vecchio old (m) » vecchi old
  • vecchia old (f) » vecchie old
  • bianco white (m) » bianchi white
  • bianca white (f) » bianche white

There are only 3 irregular adjectives: buono (good), bello (beautiful, nice), quello (that). When these adjectives are put in front of their noun, they follow their own rules.