Adjective agreement
Italian adjectives change their ending to match the gender and number of the noun they describe.
Adjectives in -o have four forms: alto, alta, alti, alte — masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, feminine plural. They copy the noun: il ragazzo alto, la ragazza alta, i ragazzi alti, le ragazze alte.
Adjectives in -e have only two forms: intelligente (singular) and intelligenti (plural), the same for both genders: un ragazzo intelligente, una ragazza intelligente.
Adjectives normally follow the noun: una casa grande, un vino rosso. A few very common ones (bello, buono, grande, nuovo, piccolo) often come before. Note that bello and buono behave like articles when they come first: un bel libro, una buona idea.
Examples
- un libro interessante an interesting book Listen in Italian: Slow in Italian: un libro interessante
- una ragazza italiana an Italian girl Listen in Italian: Slow in Italian: una ragazza italiana
- i miei amici sono simpatici my friends are nice Listen in Italian: Slow in Italian: i miei amici sono simpatici
- le case nuove the new houses Listen in Italian: Slow in Italian: le case nuove
- una buona idea a good idea Listen in Italian: Slow in Italian: una buona idea
Common mistake
Leaving the adjective in the masculine singular: la casa grande is right, but la case grandi or le casa grande mixes number or gender. Match all four slots.