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Adjectives in Italian
In Italian, an adjective can be before or after the noun. Placing the adjective after the noun can alter its meaning or indicate restrictiveness of reference; the unmarked placement for most adjectives (e.g. colours, nationalities) is after the noun. If a noun has many adjectives, usually no more than one will be before the noun. When there is possibility to choose, the second word is the more important, so if the adjective is after the noun, it is more emphasized:
- un buon uomo = a good man (nothing special, a good man)
- un uomo buono = a good man, a man that is good (it is important that he is good, the adjective is emphasized)
- un libro rosso = a red book (the unmarked case)
- un rosso libro = a book that is red (the marked case; it is especially important to the intended meaning that the book is *red*, as opposed to some other color)
Adjectives are inflected by gender and number |
Gender |
Grammatical Number |
Case 1 |
Case 2 |
| Masculine |
Singular |
-o |
-e |
| Plural |
-i |
-i |
| Feminine |
Singular |
-a |
-a |
| Plural |
-e |
-i |
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