Do Italian adjectives go before or after the noun?

Most go after the noun: un film italiano, una porta aperta. A small group of short, common adjectives usually goes before it: bello, buono, brutto, grande, piccolo, nuovo, and vecchio, as in una bella giornata. In everyday Italian, adjectives of color, nationality, and shape go after the noun.

How do Italian adjectives agree with nouns?

Adjectives in -o have four forms: -o (masculine singular), -a (feminine singular), -i (masculine plural), and -e (feminine plural). Adjectives in -e have two: -e for the singular and -i for the plural, for both genders. When an adjective describes a mixed group of masculine and feminine nouns, it takes the masculine plural: Paolo e Giulia sono simpatici.

Why does bello change its form?

Before a noun, bello copies the pattern of the definite article: bel like il (un bel quadro), bello like lo (un bello specchio), bell' like l' (un bell'uomo), bei like i (bei quadri), and begli like gli (begli specchi). The feminine forms are bella and belle. After the noun, bello is a regular -o adjective: un ragazzo bello.

How do you form adverbs in Italian?

Take the feminine singular form of the adjective and add -mente: lenta gives lentamente (slowly), chiara gives chiaramente (clearly). If the adjective ends in -le or -re, drop the final e first: facile gives facilmente, regolare gives regolarmente. The most common adverbs, bene (well) and male (badly), are irregular.

Do some Italian adjectives change meaning before the noun?

Yes. Before the noun, the meaning is often figurative, and after it, literal. Un vecchio amico is a long-time friend, but un amico vecchio is an elderly friend. Un grande uomo is a great man, but un uomo grande is a big man. Diversi libri means several books, but libri diversi means different books.

Italian grammar · Beginner

Italian Adjectives

Written by Parrot Italian Team, Italian Curriculum Editors · Reviewed October 2026

Italian adjectives agree with the noun in gender and number, and most of them follow the noun. Adjectives in -o have four forms and adjectives in -e have two, while a few common ones, such as bello, buono, and grande, change shape before a noun. Adverbs, often formed with -mente, never change.

What it is

An Italian adjective agrees with its noun in gender and number. Adjectives that end in -o have four forms (rosso, rossa, rossi, rosse), and adjectives that end in -e have two (grande, grandi). Most adjectives follow the noun, unlike English: una macchina rossa, a red car. A small group of common adjectives (bello, buono, grande, piccolo, nuovo, vecchio) usually goes before the noun, and bello, buono, and grande take short forms there: un bel giorno, un buon caffè, un gran successo.

Ho una casa piccola ma una bella cucina. (I have a small house but a beautiful kitchen.)

How to spot it

Find the noun that the adjective describes, then match the ending to the gender and number of that noun. If the noun is feminine plural, an -o adjective ends in -e and an -e adjective ends in -i.

il ragazzo alto / la ragazza alta (the tall boy / the tall girl)
i ragazzi alti / le ragazze alte (the tall boys / the tall girls)
un esercizio facile / una domanda facile (an easy exercise / an easy question)
gli esercizi facili / le domande facili (the easy exercises / the easy questions)

An adjective changes its ending, but an adverb never does. Buono describes a noun (un buon libro, a good book), while bene describes a verb (parla bene, he speaks well).

Adjectives & Adverbs Quick Reference

Italian adjective agreement, position, and short forms

Pattern	Forms	Example
Adjectives in -o (four forms)	rosso, rossa, rossi, rosse	un vestito rosso, una gonna rossa (a red dress, a red skirt)
Adjectives in -e (two forms)	grande, grandi; interessante, interessanti	un libro interessante, una storia interessante (an interesting book, an interesting story)
Mixed groups	Masculine and feminine together take the masculine plural	Marco e Anna sono stanchi. (Marco and Anna are tired.)
Position after the noun (default)	Colors, nationalities, shapes, and most other adjectives	una macchina italiana (an Italian car)
Position before the noun	Short common adjectives: bello, buono, brutto, grande, piccolo, nuovo, vecchio	una bella giornata (a beautiful day)
Meaning changes with position	Before the noun is often figurative, after is literal	un vecchio amico, un amico vecchio (a long-time friend, an elderly friend)
Bello before a noun	bel, bello, bell', bella, bei, begli, belle (like the definite article)	un bel film, un bello spettacolo, un bell'albero (a nice film, a nice show, a beautiful tree)
Buono before a noun	buon, buono, buona, buon' (like the indefinite article)	un buon caffè, una buona idea (a good coffee, a good idea)
Grande before a noun	gran before a consonant (optional)	un gran successo (a great success)
Possessive adjectives	il mio, la mia, i miei, le mie (also tuo, suo, nostro, vostro, loro)	la mia casa, i miei amici (my house, my friends)
Comparatives and superlatives	più / meno + adjective + di; il più; -issimo	Roma è più grande di Firenze. (Rome is bigger than Florence.)
Adverbs in -mente	Feminine singular + -mente; -le and -re drop the final e	lentamente, facilmente (slowly, easily)
Suffixes	-ino (small), -one (big), -accio (bad)	un gattino, un librone (a kitten, a big book)

All 7 adjectives & adverbs lessons

Adjectives and adverbs add the detail to an Italian sentence, and the rules for agreement and position apply to almost every one. The first group covers the adjectives that need their own lesson: bello with its article-like forms, the possessives, and the comparatives and superlatives. The second group covers adverbs, including the adverbs of frequency you use to talk about habits. The last group shows how suffixes such as -ino and -one change the size or tone of a word.

Adverbs

How to form adverbs with -mente, where they go, and the frequency words sempre, spesso, and mai.

Adverbs of Frequency: Italian adverbs of frequency answer the question how often: sempre, spesso, a volte, raramente, mai. They usually come after the conjugated verb, not before it as in English. Mai (never) needs non in front of the verb, so Italian says the equivalent of I don't eat never.
Adverbs: Italian adverbs describe how, when, where, or how much something happens. Many are formed by adding -mente to the feminine form of an adjective, the way English adds -ly: lento becomes lentamente. Unlike adjectives, adverbs never change their ending, so molto bella and molto belli both use the same molto.

Adjectives

Possessive adjectives, bello, and the forms for comparing things, such as più alto di and bellissimo.

Possessive Adjectives: Italian possessive adjectives (mio, tuo, suo, nostro, vostro, loro) say who owns something. They agree in gender and number with the thing owned, not with the owner, and they normally come with the definite article: il mio libro, la tua casa. The main exception is a singular family noun with no other word attached, as in mia madre or mio fratello.
Bello: Bello means beautiful, handsome, nice, or good, and it is one of the most common adjectives in Italian. When it comes before a noun, it changes its ending the same way the definite article does: bel, bello, bell', bella, bei, begli, belle. After the noun or after a verb such as essere, it has the four regular forms bello, bella, belli, belle.
Superlatives: Italian has two superlatives. The relative superlative compares one thing with a group: la città più bella d'Italia (the most beautiful city in Italy). The absolute superlative (-issimo) means very or extremely, with no comparison at all: bellissimo (very beautiful). English mostly uses most or -est for the first and very for the second.
Comparatives: Italian comparatives use più (more) or meno (less) before the adjective, and di or che for than: Anna è più alta di Marco. For equality, Italian uses come or quanto: alto come te (as tall as you). Comparatives and superlatives are closely linked, because the superlative is the comparative with a definite article: più alto, il più alto.

Word Formation

The suffixes that make a word smaller, bigger, nicer, or worse: gattino, librone, tempaccio.

Suffixes: Italian suffixes are endings added to a word to change its meaning. The most typical ones make a noun smaller (-ino, -etto, -ello), bigger (-one), or worse (-accio), so gatto becomes gattino (kitten) and parola becomes parolaccia (swear word). Others build new words, such as -ista for people (dentista) and -eria for shops (gelateria). English does this with separate words such as little, big, or nasty.

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Adjectives & Adverbs FAQs

Do Italian adjectives go before or after the noun?: Most go after the noun: un film italiano, una porta aperta. A small group of short, common adjectives usually goes before it: bello, buono, brutto, grande, piccolo, nuovo, and vecchio, as in una bella giornata. In everyday Italian, adjectives of color, nationality, and shape go after the noun.
How do Italian adjectives agree with nouns?: Adjectives in -o have four forms: -o (masculine singular), -a (feminine singular), -i (masculine plural), and -e (feminine plural). Adjectives in -e have two: -e for the singular and -i for the plural, for both genders. When an adjective describes a mixed group of masculine and feminine nouns, it takes the masculine plural: Paolo e Giulia sono simpatici.
Why does bello change its form?: Before a noun, bello copies the pattern of the definite article: bel like il (un bel quadro), bello like lo (un bello specchio), bell' like l' (un bell'uomo), bei like i (bei quadri), and begli like gli (begli specchi). The feminine forms are bella and belle. After the noun, bello is a regular -o adjective: un ragazzo bello.
How do you form adverbs in Italian?: Take the feminine singular form of the adjective and add -mente: lenta gives lentamente (slowly), chiara gives chiaramente (clearly). If the adjective ends in -le or -re, drop the final e first: facile gives facilmente, regolare gives regolarmente. The most common adverbs, bene (well) and male (badly), are irregular.
Do some Italian adjectives change meaning before the noun?: Yes. Before the noun, the meaning is often figurative, and after it, literal. Un vecchio amico is a long-time friend, but un amico vecchio is an elderly friend. Un grande uomo is a great man, but un uomo grande is a big man. Diversi libri means several books, but libri diversi means different books.