Demonstrative adjectives - Easy Learning Grammar Italian
A demonstrative adjective is used to point out a particular thing or person.
There are four demonstrative adjectives in English: this, these, that and those.
1 Using demonstrative adjectives
- As in English, Italian demonstrative adjectives go BEFORE the noun. Like other adjectives in Italian, they have to change for the feminine and plural forms.
- To say this, use questo, which has four forms, like any other adjective ending in –o.
| Masculine | Feminine | Meaning | |
| Singular | questo | questa | this |
| Plural | questi | queste | these |
| Questa gonna è troppo stretta. | This skirt is too tight. |
| Questi pantaloni mi piacciono. | I like these trousers. |
| Queste scarpe sono comode. | These shoes are comfortable. |
- To say that, use quello, which has several different forms, like the definite article:
- use quel with a masculine noun starting with a consonant
| quel ragazzo | that boy |
- use quello with a masculine noun starting with z or s + another consonant
| quello zaino | that rucksack |
| quello studente | that student |
- use quell’ with nouns starting with a vowel
| quell’albero | that tree |
| quell’amica | that friend |
- use quella with a feminine noun starting with a consonant
| quella ragazza | that girl |
- use quei with a masculine plural noun starting with a consonant
| quei cani | those dogs |
- use quegli with a masculine plural noun starting with a vowel, with z or with s + another consonant
| quegli uomini | those men |
| quegli studenti | those students |
- use quelle before all feminine plural nouns
| quelle macchine | those cars |
TipWhen you want to say this one, don’t translate one. Use questo if what you’re referring to is masculine, and questa if it’s feminine. The same goes when you want to say that one: use quello, or quella.
| Quale casa? – Questa. | Which house? – This one. |
| Quale zaino? – Quello. | Which rucksack? – That one. |
Key points
- Use questo or questa for this, and questi or queste for these.
- Use quello for that: quello behaves like the definite article, il.