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   -gio   -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.

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