LO STUDENTE – student
L’APPETITO – appetite, hunger
BUON APPETITO – Enjoy your meal!
C’È – there is
MIO – my
TUO – your (singular)
SUO – his, her
NOSTRO – our
VOSTRO – your (plural)
LORO – their (for pronunciation see Lesson 3)
IL FRATELLO – brother
LA SORELLA – sister
IL GEMELLO – twin
IL FIGLIO – son
LA FIGLIA – daughter
IL GENITORE – parent (mother / father)
IL NONNO – grandfather
LA NONNA – grandmother
I NONNI – grandparents
LA ZIA – aunt
LO ZIO – uncle
IL CUGINO – cousin (male)
LA CUGINA – cousin (female)
IL / LA NIPOTE – grandson, nephew / granddaughter, niece
IL MARITO – husband
LA MOGLIE – wife
IL BAMBINO – child
SPOSATO – married
CELIBE – single (male)
NUBILE – single (female)
IL MATRIMONIO – marriage
FELICE – happy
LA FAMIGLIA – family
An alphabetical list of the vocabulary can be found here.
Adjective BUONO and BELLO, QUELLO
Normally an adjective stands after the noun and changes for male x female and singular x plural and that’s all. But there are a few exceptions as the adjectives BUONO, BELLO and QUELLO. These adjective can often stand also before the noun and they change a little bit differently. Let’s see:
| BUONO | |||
| the noun begins with | SINGULAR | PLURAL | |
| MASCULINE | a consonant except* | buon | buoni |
| a vowel | buon | buoni | |
| *s+consonant, gn, pn, ps, x, y, z |
buono | buoni | |
| FEMININE | a consonant | buona | buone |
| a vowel | buon’ | buone | |
| BELLO, QUELLO | |||
| the noun begins with | SINGULAR | PLURAL | |
| MASCULINE | a consonant except* | bel, quel | bei, quei |
| a vowel | bell’, quell’ | begli, quegli | |
| *s+consonant, gn, pn, ps, x, y, z |
bello, quello | begli, quegli | |
| FEMININE | a consonant | bella, quella | belle, quelle |
| a vowel | bell’, quell’ | belle, quelle | |
Examples of the adjective BUONO before a noun:
buon giorno – buon espresso – buono studente – buona cena – buon’università
But if the adjective is after the noun then it’s the same as all the other adjectives (bello – belli, bella – belle):
Ho buoni amici.
Possessive adjectives
| POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES | |||
| SINGULAR | PLURAL | ||
| my | mio | our | nostro |
| your | tuo | your | vostro |
| his, her | suo | their | loro |
ATTENTION !!
The possessive adjective THEIR – LORO is identical to the subject personal pronoun THEY – LORO.
Naturally these adjectives change for male or female or singular and plural. Let’s see MIO as an example:
| MIO | ||
| SINGULAR | PLURAL | |
| MASCULINE | mio | miei |
| FEMININE | mia | mie |
TUO
- (masculine) tuo – tuoi
- (feminine) tua – tue
SUO
- (masculine) suo – suoi
- (feminine) sua – sue
NOSTRO
- (masculine) nostro – nostri
- (feminine) nostra – nostre
VOSTRO
- (masculine) vostro – vostri
- (feminine) vostra – vostre
LORO
- (masculine) loro – loro
- (feminine) loro – loro
POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES and the vocabulary of FAMILY
Remember this rule: if a noun of a family member together with a possessive adjective is:
- in singular
- without any other adjective
- not diminutive
then DON’T USE any article. Let’s see the examples:
- mia madre
- tuo padre
- suo fratello
But if the noun is:
- plural
- diminutive
- or with another adjective or adjectives
then USE the article:
- la mia mamma (diminutive)
- il tuo papà (diminutive)
- la mia sorella giovane (with adjective)
- i suoi genitori (plural)
- le mie figlie (plural)
- i miei figli (plural)