- 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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