Adjectives: Colors and more on Specific Adjectives

Colors

1. The adjective blu (blue) and other adjectives which were originally nouns (rosa, viola, marrone, etc.) are invariable.
   
   

   uno stivale rosa e uno stivale rosso ...a pink boot and a red boot stivali neri e guanti marrone ...black boots and brown gloves

   
   
   NB (Nota Bene): In modern Italian, it is quite common to see marrone modified ( guanti marroni), though it is not technically grammatically correct.
   
   
2. The addition of another adjective, such as chiaro (light) and/or scuro (dark) to an adjective indicating color makes them invariable .
   
   

   le camicie rosso scuro ...the dark red shirts i pantaloni grigio chiaro ...the light gray pants

   
   
   

A few adjectives

Bello and quello

1. Bello (beautiful, handsome, fine) and quello (that) take the same forms when they precede the noun they modify. These forms are like the definite articles that we have seen in previous lessons. See the following table, which includes the definite articles for reference.
   
   

   	Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Masculine Plural	Feminine Plural
   before a consonant	il/bel/quel	la/bella/quella	i/bei/quei	le/belle/quelle
   before s + consonant, z, or ps	lo/bello/quello	la/bella/quella	gli/begli/quegli	le/belle/quelle
   before a vowel	l’/bell’/quell’	l’/bell’/quell’	gli/begli/quegli	le/belle/quelle

   
   
   

   Non puoi rifiutare quell’invito. You cannot refuse that invite. Quello psichiatra non lavora più. That psychiatrist doesn’t work anymore. I bei negozi di Fifth Avenue sono chiusi. The beautiful stores on Fifth Avenue are closed. Quegli artisti hanno influenzato tutto il mondo. Those artists influenced the whole world.

   
   
   
2. When bello follows the noun it modifies, it takes the normal adjective endings: bello, bella, belli, belle.
   
   

   Una donna bella può fare qualsiasi cosa. A beautiful woman can do anything. Gli alberi diventano belli dopo l’inverno. The trees become beautiful after winter.

   
   
   
3. When quello is used as a pronoun, it follows the normal adjective pattern: quello, quella, quelli, quelle.
   
   

   Vedi quello lì? Do you see that right there? Prendiamo questi e non quelli. We’ll take these and not those.

   
   
   

Buono and nessuno

1. Buono (good) and nessuno (no one, no, not ... any) have similar forms when they directly precede the noun they modify. These forms are similar to those used with the indefinite articles, seen in previous lessons. See the following table, which includes the indefinite articles for reference.
   
   NB (Nota Bene):Nessuno has no plural forms. The plurals of buono and buona are always buoni and buone.
   
   

   	Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular
   before a consonant	un/buon/nessun	una/buona/nessuna
   before s + consonant, z, or ps	uno/buono/nessuno	una/buona/nessuna
   before a vowel	un/buon/nessun	un’/buon’/nessun’

   Nessun italiano vuole mangiare così. No Italian wants to eat like this. Silvio prende un buono stipendio. Silvio gets a good salary. Nessun’amica è venuta. No (girl) friend came.

   
   
   
2. When buono follows the noun it modifies, the normal pattern is used: buono, buona, buoni, buone.

   Leggi una rivista buona? Are you reading a good magazine? Il ristorante non sembra buono. The restaurant doesn’t seem good. È difficile trovare un ristorante buono sulla spiaggia. It is hard to find a good restaurant on the beach.

   
   

Grande