In general, adjectives are identifiable by changes in the vowel endings, which show agreement with the nouns they modify.
There are two main types of descriptive adjectives:
1: the type that end with -o
2. the type that end with -e
Masculine nouns
Masculine singular nouns end in -o or -e.
Masculine plural forms end in -I
-o ==> -i
-e =-=> -i
l’uomo alto / gli uomini alti
l’uomo intelligente / gli uomini intelligenti
il cantante intelligente / i cantanti intelligenti
Feminine nouns
Feminine singular adjectives end in -a or -e.
Feminine plural forms of end in -e (type 1) of -i (type 2)
-a ==> -e
-e =-=> i
la donna alta/ le donne alte
la donna intelligente / le donne intelligenti
la scultrice alta
Some adjectives can come before OR after the noun. A few of these adjectives change meaning depending on their position.
Common examples: bello, brutto, buono, caro, cattivo (bad), giovane, grande, nuovo, povero, simpatico, vecchio (old).
Caro Before=dear. After=expensive Lui e’ un caro amico. E’ un giacca cara.
Grande. Before=great. After=big E’ un grande libro. E” un libro grande.
Povero. Before=poor(pity). After=poor(not wealthy) Lui e’ un povero uomo. Lui e’ un uomo povero.
Vecchio. Before=old(many years). After=old(in age) Lui e’ una vecchia amica. Lei e’ una donna vecchia.
Descriptive adjectives can be separated from the nouns they modify by a linking verb. (Predicate adjectives).
The most common verbs: essere (to be), sembrare (to seem). And diventare (to become).
Quella giacca e’ nuova.
Quell’uomo sembra intelligente.
Questa macchina sta diventando vecchia.
When these adjectives are accompanied by an adverb, another adjective, or some other part of speech,
they must follow the noun
they must follow the noun,
Lui’ e’ un simpatico uomo. He is a nice man.
BUT
Lui’ e’ un uomo molto simpatico. He is a very nice man.
Lui’ e’ un uomo simpatico e’ bravo. He is a nice and good man.
