Adjectives

There are two main differences between Eng. and It. adjectives:

- It. adjectives agree with nouns for gender and number, so "good" corresponds to "buono, buona, buoni, buone";

- It. adjectives may come either before or after nouns. In most cases, the position is after the noun: see, for example "un libro interessante, una patata dolce"... ( an interesting book, a sweet potato).

In both languages, adjectives can occur after linking verbs. The commonest is by far "essere" ( to be ); others are "sembrare, apparire, diventare"... ( to look, seem, appear, become... ). In this case, again, there must be agreement for gender and number. Examples: "E' stanco. Mi appare stanca. Mi sembrano stanchi. Sono stanchissime." ( He is tired. She looks tired to me. They [m.] seem tired. They [f.] are very tired).

This also applies to past participles when the auxiliary verb is "essere": "E' partito / E' partita / Sono partiti / Sono partite per Londra ( He has / She has / They [m.] have / They [f.] have left for London.)

For comparative forms see

For superlative forms see

For the irregular forms of comparatives and superlatives see

Possessive adjectives and pronouns

Numerals