Lesson 6 - Singular and plural forms of descriptive adjectives
The descriptive adjective is a word in a phrase that is associated with a noun. It is used to describe different characteristics of a noun . It agrees with the same gender and number of the noun it is associated with.
Singular form
-Adjectives ending with an -o are ok to be associated with masculine singular form nouns.
Ex. Un maglione nuovo ( = the new jumper )
Il bambino allegro ( = the happy child )
- Changing the last letter -o of an adjective with an -a , make that adjective right form feminine singular nouns.
Ex. Il gatto snello - La gatta snella ( = the thin cat )
Un bambino coraggioso - Una bambina coraggiosa ( = a brave boy child - a brave girl child )
-Adjectives ending with an -e in the singular form can be use as they are for female and male nouns.
Ex. Un bambino vivace - Una bambina vivace ( = a lively child)
Una ragazza divertente - Un ragazzo divertente ( = a funny girl , a funny guy )
Plural form of a descriptive adjective
Masculine singular adjective ending with an -o , in the plural form ends with an -i;
Ex., alto - alti (= high)
Feminine singular adjective ending with an -a , in the plural form ends with an -e ;
Ex. alta - alte (= high)
Adjectives that are both feminine and masculine in the singular form ending with an -e , in the plural form they end with an -i;
Ex. Vivace - vivaci (= lively)
Adjectives that end with an -a and are both feminine and masculine singular ones , in the plural form are different . In the female plural version they ends with an -e ; in the male plural versione they ends with an -i;
Ex. Un uomo pessimista - dei uomini pessimisti
Una donna pessimista - delle donne pessimiste
Some adjectives have only a single form for both male/female, singular/plural forms.
These adjective are:
-the adjective “pari” or “ dispari ”
ex. “un numero pari / dei numeri pari ” (= an even number / some even numbers )
“ un numero dispari / dei numeri dispari ” (= an odd number/ some odd numbers )
- adjectives derived by colors
ex. La nuvola rosa / le nuvole rosa (= the pink cloud / the pink clouds )
-adjectives starting with anti-
ex. Il faro antinebbia / i fari antinebbia (= the fog light / the fog lights )
- adjectives “dabbene”, “perbene” and “dappoco”
ex. Un uomo per bene / degli uomini per bene (= a good man / good men )
- some adjective that indicates color or a the name of a color and an object combined
Ex.
Rosa = pink ex. Bellissime queste rose rosa —> these pink roses are beautiful
Lilla = lilac
Viola = violet
Bianco latte —> milky white
Grigio cenere —> dust gray
The colors brown and orange are the exception for this category because they can be use in a plural form; ex. ( le zucche sono arancioni —> Pumpkins are orange )
Exceptions
The adjectives “bello”, “buono”, “grande”, “santo” have a lot of forms base on the gender and singular/plural froms.
Ex. Bello —> Bel bambino / bei bambini (= beautiful kid / beautiful kids )
Bello —> bello spettacolo / begli spettacoli (= beautiful show / beautiful shows )
Next lesson --> How to coordinate the adjectives in a phrase
