Adjective agreement

Adjective agreement





"The adjective that describes
a noun must match the noun
in gender (M/F) and number (S/P) "

Before we begin, let's review...

Multiple Choice

MASCHILE O FEMMINILE?

"LA MACCHINA"

• maschile

• femminile

Multiple Choice

MASCHILE O FEMMINILE?

"L'ALBERO"

• maschile

• femminile

Multiple Choice

MASCHILE O FEMMINILE?

"IL CANE"

• maschile

• femminile

Multiple Choice

MASCHILE O FEMMINILE?

"LA CLASSE"

• maschile

• femminile

• un cane = singular, masculine

• piccolo

  • "-o" is the standard singular, masculine ending

​​un cane piccolo

• due cani = plural, masculine

• piccoli

  • "-i" is the standard plural, masculine ending

due cani piccoli

When you change the ending for a noun, you must also change the ending for the adjective!

THIS IS CALLED ADJECTIVE AGREEMENT!

• if you are changing a singular noun to its plural version, you must change the article and the adjective as well

  • il 👉 i

  • lo 👉 gli

  • la 👉 le

  • l' (f) 👉 le

  • l' (m) 👉 gli

a red house.

-a = singular feminine

​​una casa rossa

three colorful houses.

-e = plural feminine

​​tre case colorate

​a white window.

Pay attention to how the endings match!
This is called an "agreement"

​​una finestra bianca

some white windows.

Notice how we introduced the "h" to keep the "k" sound in "bianche"

​​delle finestre bianche

Multiple Choice

What is "adjective agreement"?

• It's a rule that says that an adjective has to match the gender (masc or fem) and number (sing or plur) of the nouns it describes

• It's a rule that says that Italian nouns and adjectives have to agree with the English grammar rules

Fill in the Blanks

la luna, due

Fill in the Blanks

una donna, due

.

Fill in the Blanks

un bambino, due

Fill in the Blanks

la bambina piccola, le bambine

Fill in the Blanks

il gatto nero, i gatti

it doesn't matter if it is maschile or femminile, the plural of "-e" is always "-i"

LA CLASSE GRANDE 👉 LE CLASSI GRANDI
notice that the article "la" became "le" because that rule does not change.

IL CANE GRANDE 👉 I CANI GRANDI

What if a word ends in -e?

Fill in the Blanks

un ristorante, due

Fill in the Blanks

una classe, due

What about adjectives that end in -e?

as per the rule: -e 👉 -i
Here are some adjectives that end in -e:

• verde

• arancione

• marrone

• felice

• triste

• grande

• giovane

Fill in the Blanks

il sole arancione, due soli

Fill in the Blanks

il fiore giallo, i fiori

Fill in the Blanks

un uomo triste, due uomini