Adjective
Degrees of comparison of qualitative adjectives
Comparative degree of adjectives
The comparative degree of adjectives is formed by combining an adjective with adverbs piu(more), meno(less), cos?…come, tanto…quanto(such as)
Maria è più intelligente che la sua amica (=della sua amica) Maria is smarter than her friend.
Questo libro è meno interessante di (=che) quello. This book is less interesting than that one.
La mia stanza è così comoda come la tua (=tanto comoda quanto la tua)- My room is as comfortable as yours.
Remember:
Molto più…- Much more...
Molto meno…- Much less...
L "inverno russo è molto più freddo che l" inverno italiano.- The Russian winter is much colder than the Italian one.
Before the second term of the comparison can be used di And Che; before personal pronouns and numerals is used only di:
Lavori più di me- You work more than me.
Superlative adjectives
The superlative degree of adjectives can be relative or absolute.
Relative The superlative degree is formed by putting the definite article before the comparative degree of the adjective:
Piu forte- Stronger
Meno cari- Less expensive
Il piu forte- Strongest
I meno cari- Least Expensive
In this case, the noun can stand either after the adjective, or immediately after the article:
Russia è il più grande paese del mondo (= Russia è il paese più grande del mondo).- Russia is the biggest country in the world.
"Repubblica" и il quotidiano più diffuso d "Italia.- "Republica" - the most widespread newspaper in Italy.
Absolute superlatives are formed:
- by adding a suffix -issimo;
- by adding adverbs to adjectives molto, assai(Very);
- by repeating the adjective
Beautiful |
|
Bellissimo | Very beautiful, beautiful |
Viviamo in una casa bellissima. | We live in a very beautiful house. |
The relative superlative degree is used in the presence of comparison. (In the examples given: Russia is the largest country in the world compared to other countries; "Repubblica" is the most widely distributed newspaper in Italy compared to other Italian newspapers.)
Sometimes such a comparison may lie in the very meaning of the sentence:
Il più capace e Paolo.- The most capable (of all) - Paolo.
When using the absolute superlative degree of an adjective, such a comparison is absent:
Paolo e capacissimo.- Paolo is very capable.
Some adjectives, along with the indicated forms of comparative and superlative degrees, have other, very common forms, formed from Latin stems:
| comparative | Superlatives | ||
| Relative | Absolute | ||
| Buono Good | Migliore Better, best | Il migliore The best | Ottimo Great |
| Cattivo Bad | Peggiore Worse, worst | Il peggiore The worst | Pessimo Very bad, Worst |
| Grande Big | Maggiore bigger, older, older | Il maggiore Biggest Senior | Massimo Maximum, Greatest |
| Piccolo Small | Minor less, smaller | Il minore smallest, youngest | Minimo Minimum, smallest |
| Alto High | Superiore Higher, higher | Il superiore tallest, oldest | Supreme Supreme |
| Basso Short | Inferiore Below, inferior | L "inferiore lowest, lowest | Infimo most insignificant, insignificant |
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comparative
piu’……di/che more…than
meno….di/che less….than
cosi….come the same….as
tanto…quanto is the same….ka
Where to put di and where to put Che??!!
Di used when comparing the same quality of two persons or objects. Behind di followed by a noun or pronoun, and it is not always translated literally into Russian.
Che used when comparing two qualities of the same person or object. After Che usually followed by a verb, adverb, adjective, or preposition. Also Che used when two nouns are compared to each other in number.
The Russian comparative turnover “so (same) as”, “as much as” in Italian correspond to (tanto)….quanto or (cosi)….come. In this case, the comparative particles tanto and cosi can be omitted.
Superlatives
There are two forms of superlatives in Italian: relative and absolute. The relative is formed with the definite article and piu"….di:
il palazzo piu' moderno di Parigi is the most modern building in Paris.
E' il piu’ Interested di tutti - he is the most interesting of all.
Absolute superlatives are formed with the ending -issimo.
|
comparative |
Absolute superlative |
|
|
buono (good) |
piu buono, migliore is better |
buonissimo, ottimo very good, excellent |
|
cattivo (bad, evil) |
piu cattivo, peggiore worse |
cattivissimo, pessimo very bad, terrible |
|
piccolo (small) |
piu piccolo smaller minore less |
piccolissimo very small minimo smallest |
|
grande (large) |
piu grande more maggiore older |
grandissimo very big, huge massimo the greatest |
|
alto (high) |
piu alto above superiore higher, better |
altissimo very tall supremo greatest, greatest |
|
basso (low) |
piu basso below inferiore, worse |
bassissimo very low infimo the lowest |
On the topic of adverbs, consider degrees of comparison of adverbs in Italian. Adverbs in Italian (like adjectives) form degrees of comparison. There are 3 degrees of comparison of adverbs in Italian (except for the original form): comparative, relative superlative and absolute superlative. For example, let's take the adverb tardi - late:
più tardi - later (comparative degree of comparison of an adverb)
il più tardi possibile - as late as possible (relative superlative adverb)
molto tardi, tardissimo - very late (absolute superlative adverb)
Similarly, the degrees of comparison of adverbs in Italian with the suffixes -mente (facilmente - easy) are formed:
più facilmente - easier (comparative degree of comparison of an adverb)
il più facilmente possibile - as easy as possible (relative superlative adverb)
molto facilmente, facilissimamente - very easy (absolute superlative adverb comparison)
There are some adverbs in Italian that have their own degrees of comparison. These adverbs include bene, male, molto, poco:
bene - good (initial form of adverb)
meglio - better (comparative degree of comparison of an adverb)
il meglio possibile - as best as possible (relative superlative adverb comparison)
benissimo - excellent (absolute superlative adverb comparison)
male - bad (the initial form of the adverb)
peggio - worse (comparative degree of comparison of an adverb)
il peggio possibile - as bad as possible (relative superlative adverb comparison)
malissimo - very bad, terribly bad (absolute superlative adverb)
molto - a lot (the initial form of the adverb)
più - more (comparative degree of comparison of an adverb)
il più possibile - as much as possible (relative superlative adverb)
moltissimo - a lot, most of all (absolute superlative adverb comparison)
poco - little (the initial form of the adverb)
meno - less (comparative degree of comparison of the adverb)
il meno possibile - as little as possible (relative superlative adverb)
pochissimo - least of all (absolute superlative adverb)
In addition to these degrees of comparison of adverbs in Italian, there are also synonyms that express this or that degree, for example:
bene - good, benine - pretty good, benone - great
male - bad; maluccio - not good enough
poco - little; pochino - a little, a little bit
presto - quickly, early; prestino - quickly, early
adagio - quietly, slowly; adagino - on the sly
piano - quiet; pianono - softly
This concludes the degrees of comparison of adverbs in Italian and in the next article we will consider another topic for beginners to learn Italian - the place of adverbs in an Italian sentence.
In this article, we will consider degrees of comparison of adjectives in Italian, as well as the position of adjectives in Italian in relation to nouns.
Adjectives in Italian form their comparative form with adverbs più and adjectives with di, che or meno: essere più utile che piacevole - to be more useful than pleasant
in meno tempo - in a shorter time
It should be noted that the words di, che, come, quanto correspond to the Russian "what" and "how". The preposition di is used when comparing two nouns or pronouns:
è più bella di te – she is prettier than you
When comparing two adjectives, two phrases with a preposition, two adverbs or two verbs, che is used:
meglio tardi che mai - better late than never
When comparing the same qualities (the same as) in Italian they use (cosi) .... come, (tanto) …. quanto, cosi or tanto:
sei alto come lui - you are the same height as him
Kiev è (così) grande come Roma - Kyiv is as big as Rome
Superlatives for adjectives in Italian
Position of adjectives in relation to nouns in Italian
Adjectives in Italian can come before or after the noun they refer to. Adjectives that always follow nouns include:
Adjectives that indicate shape or color:
vino rosso - red wine
Adjectives that indicate political, national or religious affiliation:
lingua italiana - Italian language
Participles that act as definitions:
condizioni convenienti - suitable conditions
Polysyllabic adjectives:
un caso eccezionale - an extraordinary occurrence
Adjectives that have dependent words:
un libro molto interessante - a very interesting book
Note:
Some adjectives change their meaning depending on their position. If an adjective follows a noun, it retains its meaning; if it comes before a noun, it acquires a figurative meaning:
costar caro - cost a lot
a caro prezzo - expensive
indizio certo - sure sign
un certo fascino - some charm
grande distanza - long distance
un quadro grande - big picture
povera cena - skimpy dinner
un uomo povero - poor man
una persone sola - lonely person
una sola persona - the only person
un amico vecchio - old (elderly) friend
un vecchio amico - an old (old) friend
