Qualitative Adjektive und ihre Endungen

An English adjective keeps one form: a tall boy, tall girls. An Italian adjective agrees with its noun in gender and number, so it has two or four forms depending on its dictionary ending.

Adjectives in -o: four forms

un ragazzo alto, una ragazza alta, ragazzi alti, ragazze alte - a tall boy, a tall girl, tall boys, tall girls.

Adjectives in -e: two forms

un museo grande, una piazza grande, musei grandi, piazze grandi. Other common ones: verde (green), felice (happy), inglese, francese.

The adjective agrees with the noun, not with the shape of the noun's ending: il problema is masculine, so it is un problema serio - a serious problem. When a group mixes masculine and feminine, the masculine plural covers it: Marco e Giulia sono simpatici.

Position: usually after the noun

English puts the adjective first; Italian mostly puts it after: un vino rosso - a red wine, una città antica - an ancient city, la cucina italiana. Colours, nationalities and shapes go after the noun.

A small group of everyday adjectives usually comes before: bello, buono, brutto, grande, piccolo, nuovo, vecchio, giovane. Una bella giornata - a lovely day, un buon caffè - a good coffee. Some change meaning with position: un grande uomo is a great man, un uomo grande a big one.

Bello and buono before a noun

Before the noun, bello takes the shapes of the definite article, and buono those of the indefinite one:

• il → bel: un bel ragazzo; lo → bello: un bello stadio; l' → bell': un bell'albergo
• i → bei: bei ragazzi; gli → begli: begli occhi; feminine: bella, belle
• un → buon: buon giorno, buon appetito; una → buona: buona notte

After the noun or after essere they are regular again: Il panorama è bello.