Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives are the Italian equivalents of "this" and "that." They allow you to point out specific people or things, whether nearby or far away. Italian has two demonstrative systems: questo (this/these) and quello (that/those). While questo is straightforward, quello has a special set of forms that mirror the definite article.

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Questo — This / These

Questo means "this" (nearby) and follows the regular four-ending pattern:

Form	Before Consonant	Before Vowel
Masc. singular	questo libro (this book)	**quest'**uomo (this man)
Fem. singular	questa casa (this house)	**quest'**amica (this friend)
Masc. plural	questi libri (these books)	questi uomini (these men)
Fem. plural	queste case (these houses)	queste amiche (these friends)

Key points:

• Questo/questa can be shortened to quest' before a vowel in the singular
• The plural forms (questi/queste) are never shortened
• Questo does not require the definite article

Questo caffè è buono.             (This coffee is good.)
Quest'idea è fantastica!           (This idea is fantastic!)
Questi ragazzi sono italiani.      (These boys are Italian.)
Queste scarpe sono comode.         (These shoes are comfortable.)

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