Adjective Gender Agreement

In Italian, adjectives must agree in gender with the noun they describe. This is one of the most fundamental rules of Italian grammar and something you will use in every sentence. Unlike English, where adjectives never change form, Italian adjectives shift their endings to match whether the noun is masculine or feminine.

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The Four-Ending Pattern (-o / -a / -i / -e)

The most common type of Italian adjective has four forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural. These adjectives end in -o in the masculine singular.

Form	Ending	Example (alto — tall)
Masculine singular	-o	il ragazzo alto (the tall boy)
Feminine singular	-a	la ragazza alta (the tall girl)
Masculine plural	-i	i ragazzi alti (the tall boys)
Feminine plural	-e	le ragazze alte (the tall girls)

Here are more common adjectives that follow this pattern:

Adjective	Meaning	Masc. Sing.	Fem. Sing.	Masc. Pl.	Fem. Pl.
bello	beautiful	bello	bella	belli	belle
brutto	ugly	brutto	brutta	brutti	brutte
piccolo	small	piccolo	piccola	piccoli	piccole
nuovo	new	nuovo	nuova	nuovi	nuove
vecchio	old	vecchio	vecchia	vecchi	vecchie
bianco	white	bianco	bianca	bianchi	bianche
rosso	red	rosso	rossa	rossi	rosse
nero	black	nero	nera	neri	nere
caro	dear/expensive	caro	cara	cari	care
largo	wide	largo	larga	larghi	larghe

Tip: If you see an adjective ending in -o in the dictionary, you know it has all four forms. This is the most predictable pattern in Italian.

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Two-Ending Adjectives (-e / -i)

A second large group of adjectives ends in -e in the singular. These adjectives have the same form for both masculine and feminine in the singular, and they both become -i in the plural.

Form	Ending	Example (grande — big/great)
Masculine singular	-e	il palazzo grande (the big building)
Feminine singular	-e	la casa grande (the big house)
Masculine plural	-i	i palazzi grandi (the big buildings)
Feminine plural	-i	le case grandi (the big houses)

Common two-ending adjectives:

Adjective	Meaning
grande	big, great
intelligente	intelligent
interessante	interesting
importante	important
difficile	difficult
facile	easy
felice	happy
triste	sad
gentile	kind
forte	strong
dolce	sweet
verde	green
veloce	fast
giovane	young
elegante	elegant

Tip: Two-ending adjectives are very learner-friendly because you only need to remember two forms (-e singular, -i plural) instead of four.

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Invariable Adjectives

A small number of adjectives never change form regardless of gender or number. These are called invariable adjectives.

Adjective	Meaning	Example
blu	blue	la macchina blu / le macchine blu
rosa	pink	il fiore rosa / i fiori rosa
viola	purple/violet	la gonna viola / le gonne viola
arrosto	roasted	il pollo arrosto / i polli arrosto
pari	even (number)	il numero pari / i numeri pari
dispari	odd (number)	il numero dispari / i numeri dispari
anti- compounds	anti-	la crema antirughe (anti-wrinkle cream)

Most borrowed colour words (from English or other languages) are also invariable:

• il vestito beige / i vestiti beige
• la maglietta bordeaux / le magliette bordeaux

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How to Determine Agreement

Follow these steps to choose the correct adjective form:

1. Identify the noun's gender — is it masculine or feminine?
2. Identify the noun's number — is it singular or plural?
3. Check the adjective type — does it end in -o (four forms), -e (two forms), or is it invariable?
4. Apply the correct ending.

Example:
  Noun: macchina (feminine, singular)
  Adjective: rosso → rossa
  Result: la macchina rossa (the red car)

  Noun: libri (masculine, plural)
  Adjective: interessante → interessanti
  Result: i libri interessanti (the interesting books)

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Mixed-Gender Groups

When an adjective describes a group of mixed gender (both masculine and feminine nouns together), Italian uses the masculine plural form.

Situation	Example
Marco e Lucia sono alti.	Marco and Lucia are tall.
I ragazzi e le ragazze sono bravi.	The boys and girls are good/clever.
Il gatto e la gatta sono bianchi.	The male and female cats are white.

Tip: The masculine plural acts as the "default" whenever genders are mixed. This is a consistent rule throughout Italian grammar.

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake	Why It Is Wrong	Correct Form
*la casa bianco	Feminine noun + masculine adjective	la casa bianca
*i ragazzi grande	Plural noun + singular adjective	i ragazzi grandi
*le ragazze intelligento	-e adjective does not have an -o form	le ragazze intelligenti
*il libro bluo	blu is invariable	il libro blu

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Practice Exercises

Match each noun with the correct adjective form:

1. la pizza (caldo) → la pizza ______
2. i bambini (felice) → i bambini ______
3. le scarpe (nero) → le scarpe ______
4. il cielo (blu) → il cielo ______
5. la lezione (interessante) → la lezione ______
6. i libri (nuovo) → i libri ______
7. le mele (rosso) → le mele ______
8. il problema (difficile) → il problema ______

Answers:

1. calda 2. felici 3. nere 4. blu 5. interessante 6. nuovi 7. rosse 8. difficile

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Summary

Adjective Type	Singular	Plural	Gender Distinction
-o type	-o (m) / -a (f)	-i (m) / -e (f)	Yes — all four forms
-e type	-e (m & f)	-i (m & f)	No — same for both
Invariable	unchanged	unchanged	No — never changes

Mastering gender agreement is essential. Every adjective you learn should be practised with both masculine and feminine nouns until the correct ending becomes automatic.