Chapter 9 of 16 · Explore the Italian path
Words · Chapter 9 of 16
Describing words, and where they sit
A describing word is a word like big, small, old or good. In Italian it usually comes after the thing it describes and copies its ending, which tells you what belongs to what.
≈ 3 min of reading · Practise at your own pace
What’s in this chapter
- A describing word is a word like big, small, old, good.
- It normally comes after the thing and copies its ending: una casa piccola.
- A describing word ending in -e has one shape for both families: grande, felice.
- A few common ones can go in front instead: il vecchio coniglio.
- You need not produce these endings to read, but notice them: they say which description belongs to which thing.
Six describing words
A describing word is a word like big, small or old. Read down the middle column and say each one aloud; the last column tells you what changes for a feminine thing.
| English | Italian | Feminine form |
|---|---|---|
| big | grande | no change |
| small | piccolo | piccola |
| old | vecchio | vecchia |
| good | buono | buona |
| happy | felice | no change |
| sad | triste | no change |
Half of these end in -e and have one shape for both families — though -e still becomes -i for more than one, as volpe became volpi.
A small house.
Una casa piccola.
OO-nah KAH-zah PEEK-koh-lah
casa first, piccola after — and the -a on piccola was copied from casa. Expect the thing first; translate in English order and you will be a word behind all the way.
The old rabbit is happy.
Il vecchio coniglio è felice.
eel VEHK-kyoh koh-NEE-lyoh eh feh-LEE-cheh
A few common ones — buono, bello
Which ending, and which side
- una volpe vecchia
The describing word copies the ending of the thing.
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una volpe vecchiaOO-nah VOHL-peh VEHK-kyah “an old fox” - Il coniglio è triste.
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Il coniglio è triste.eel koh-NEE-lyoh eh TREE-steh “The rabbit is sad” - Why is it una casa piccola but un albero piccolo?
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The describing word copies the ending of its thing: casa ends in -a, albero in -o.