Possessive adjectives
OBSERVE
Mio nonno abita a Roma. (My grandfather lives in Rome)
Giulia studia italiano a Bryn Mawr. La sua professoressa è Chiara. (Giulia studies Italian at Bryn Mawr. Her professor is Chiara)
Le nostre cugine giocano a pallavolo. (Our cousins play volleyball)
REFLECT
Mio, sua, nostre are possessive adjectives. In Italian, like in English, possessive adjectives change depending on the person (e.g. I > mio; you > tuo, etc.). However, while in English there is a distinction between “his” and “her”, there is no such a difference in Italian. Since possessivi are adjectives, they agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to.
REMEMBER
Each possessive adjective (except for loro – their) has four forms (masculine / feminine – singular / plural):
| singolare | plurale | |||
| M | F | M | F | |
| mio | mia | miei | mie | (my) |
| tuo | tua | tuoi | tue | (your) |
| suo | sua | suoi | sue | (his / her) |
| nostro | nostra | nostri | nostre | (our) |
| vostro | vostra | vostri | vostre | (your) |
| loro | loro | loro | loro | (their) |
Remember that the ending of the possessive adjective depends on the gender and number of the noun it refers to, not on the gender and number of the possessor:
Gianni ha un cane. Il suo cane è intelligente. (Gianni has a dog. His dog is intelligent)
Marcella ha un cane. Il suo cane è intelligente. (Marcella has a dog. Her dog is intelligent)I nostri
Possessive adjectives are normally preceded by articles, except with singular nouns designating close family members (e.g. padre, madre, fratello, sorella, nonno, nonna, zio, zia, cugino, cugina, etc., pets, fiancé, and the word famiglia want the article!):
Le nostre penne sono blu e nere. (Our pens are blue and black)
I vostri zii e le vostre zie abitano a Venezia. (Your uncles and aunts live in Venice)
Mia zia è una scienziata. (My aunt is a scientist)
However, loro is always preceded by the article:
La loro nonna si chiama Maria. (Their grandma is called Maria)
I loro amici sono divertenti. (Their friends are fun)
Demonstrative adjectives
OBSERVE
Non mi piace questa ragazza – preferisco quella ragazza! (I don’t like this girl, I prefer that girl)
Questi libri sono interessanti. (These books are interesting)
REFLECT
Questa, quella, questi are aggettivi dimostrativi – they can be used to designate an object or a person that is close to the speaker, “this” (questo) or further from them, “that” (quello).
REMEMBER
Like all other adjectives in Italian, questo and quello match the gender and number of the noun that they refer to. Additionally, the ending of quello changes depending on the first letter of the word that follows it (similar to articoli determinativi).
| singolare | plurale | ||||
| maschile | femminile | maschile | femminile | ||
| il ragazzo
la ragazza |
questo ragazzo | questa ragazza | questi ragazzi | queste ragazze | this boy, this girl, these boys, these girls |
| quel ragazzo | quella ragazza | quei ragazzi | quelle ragazze | that boy, that girl, those boys, those girls | |
| lo studente
la studentessa |
quello studente | quella studentessa | quegli studenti | quelle studentesse | that student (M), that student (F), those students (M), those students (F) |
| l’amico
l’amica
|
quest’amico | quest’amica | questi amici | queste amiche | this friend (M), this friend (F), these friends (M), these friends (F) |
| quell’amico | quell’amica | quegli amici | quelle amiche | that friend (M), that friend (F), those friends (M), those friends (F) | |
Use quello / quegli any time you’d use the article lo / gli, including with combinations of letters such as “st-, sl-, gn-”. Use quest’ and quell’ any time you’d use the article l’ (review Unit 1 for a list of cases).
Remember that the aggettivi dimostrativi should never be used in combination with an article.
