🎙 Welcome to  We learn Italian step by step  / Impariamo l’italiano piano piano

🎧 Episode 14 - Before or After? Part A - The Art of Italian Adjectives

Introducton

• un’altra persona
• un altro lampione
• una donna anziana
• un lungo cappotto scuro
• raffinate opere d’arte
• lussuoso ingresso
• mano ferma

What do all of these phrases have in common?
If you said adjectives, you are absolutely right.

But what you may also have noticed is that sometimes the adjective comes before the noun,
sometimes it comes after. And sometimes one adjective is placed before and another one after… all in the same phrase.

Antonio: Ma è tutto chiarissimo!

Myra: Right Antonio. It may be clear to you, and to Paolo. For native speakers, it all just always comes naturally.

Antonio: Beh… quasi sempre.

Myra: Almost always. In English we say, “A miss is good as a mile”.

Antonio: E in italiano, diciamo “Ho sbagliato per un pelo”

Myra: “You’re wrong by a hair” But you’re still wrong. Let’s see if we can correct that.

So what is this adjective placement all about?

That is a question that came up in our listener survey. 

One listener told us that he sometimes hears bel film, but at other times film bellissimo.
He wants to know why the adjective moves, and what happens to the meaning when it does.

Thank you Paul for bringing this one to our attention. This is something that I also struggle with. 

In today’s episode, we’ll look at the foundational rules; when Italian adjectives naturally follow the noun, and when they naturally appear before it.

And then, in Part B of this topic, we’ll answer Paul’s question
 by looking at adjectives that actually change meaning depending on their position.

At the end of this episode, you’ll listen to Part 2 of Chapter 2 of Le Pagine del Passato, and I’ll ask you to do your best to interject and say the adjectives and nouns in the correct order as the story unfolds.

Cari Studenti Saggi, just think about how much richer this podcast is because someone like Paul took the time to respond to my request to fill out the survey. But it’s not too late.  If you have a question that you would like to have answered on the show, you can send me a text, or a voice message or an email if you prefer. Or you could fill out the survey.  All the links are in the show notes.

Welcome, by the way to Impariamo L’itatliano Piano Piano. I’m Myra and at the ready is my bigger than life co-host Antonio.

Che ne dici? Lo facciamo?

Antonio & Myra: Cominciamo!

The Default Rule: Most Adjectives Come After the Noun

Myra: 

In Italian, the most important thing to know about adjectives is this:

Most adjectives naturally come after the noun.

This is different from English, where adjectives almost always come before.
 In Italian, the normal, natural position is after the noun, especially with:

Descriptive adjectives (after the noun)

Myra: A calm house.
Antonio: Una casa tranquilla.

Colors (after the noun)

Myra: A red shirt.
Antonio: Una maglietta rossa.

Shapes (after the noun)

Myra: A round table.
Antonio: Una tavola rotonda.

Nationalities (after the noun)

Myra: An Italian film.
Antonio: Un film italiano.

Participles used as adjectives (after the noun)

Before we continue, a quick grammar note.
 In Italian, the participio passato is the form you use to make the passato prossimo.
For example:

• to close → chiudere → chiuso
• to break →rompere → rotto
• to fall →cadere → caduto

These past participles can also be used as adjectives.
And when they act as adjectives, they follow the same rule as other descriptive adjectives.
They usually come after the noun.

Myra: A closed door.
Antonio: Una porta chiusa.

Myra: A broken window.
Antonio: Una finestra rotta.

Myra: A fallen leaf.
Antonio: Una foglia caduta.

Myra: A shiny ring.
Antonio: Un anello brillante.

Myra: A painting that is hanging.
Antonio: Un quadro appeso.

Practice 1 – The Default Rule

Let’s practice the default rule. Antonio can you tell us a little story using the kinds of adjectives that we have been talking about?  We’ll pause along the way and let the listeners fill in the blanks. 

Antonio:
Allora, Maira… l’altro giorno Paolo mi ha invitato a lavorare a casa sua.
So, Maira… the other day Paolo invited me to work at his place.

Sono arrivato e lui mi ha fatto entrare in …[pausa]…
I arrived and he let me into…

Myra: You want to say a quiet room.
Antonio: una stanza tranquilla.

Antonio:
Poi mi ha offerto …[pausa]…
Then he offered me…

Myra: You want to say a cold drink.
Antonio: una bevanda fredda.

Antonio:
Vicino alla porta ho visto …[pausa]…
Near the door I saw…

Myra: You want to say a blue bicycle.
Antonio: una bicicletta blu.

Antonio:
Sul divano, Paolo stava leggendo un libro scritto da …[pausa]…
On the couch, Paolo was reading a book written by…

Myra: You want to say a famous writer.
Antonio: uno scrittore famoso.

Antonio:
E quando ho cercato di sedermi, mi ha indicato …[pausa]…
And when I tried to sit down, he pointed me toward…

Myra: You want to say a broken chair.
Antonio: una sedia rotta.

Myra: So what did you do then?

Antonio: Ho appoggiato la bevanda fredda e sono uscito dalla stanza tranquilla. Sono salito sulla bicicletta blu e sono andato al cinema locale con il mio migliore amico Mario.

Myra:
Bravissimi. These are all adjectives that follow the noun because they are simple descriptions.

Excellent. Do you hear the rhythm?
 Noun first… adjective after.

Antonio: Esatto! La musica dell’italiano!

Myra: I knew you’d say something musical.

Antonio: Se vuoi, posso anche cantarla…

Myra: No, no! we’re good.

Practice 2 – Examples from the story

Let’s hear a few more. These examples come directly from our story. As always, press pause after the English if you need to and try to come up with the Italian.

Myra: A mysterious figure.
Antonio: Una figura misteriosa.

Myra:. A cold autumn wind.
Antonio: Un freddo vento autunnale.

Myra:
Aspetta un attimo.
You just put  freddo before the noun.

But we just said that descriptive adjectives normally come after the noun.

Antonio (Italian only):
Ben visto, Maira! In italiano, questa forma si usa spesso nei racconti o in un linguaggio più espressivo.
Ma nella lingua di tutti i giorni, diresti un vento freddo.

Myra:
OK, So the neutral, everyday version would be un vento freddo, noun first, adjective after.

The story uses un freddo vento autunnale because Italian sometimes moves a descriptive adjective before the noun for a more expressive, literary effect.

We’re not going to dive into all of that today.
 We’ll save it for our next expisode, where we’ll look at adjectives that change position, and sometimes meaning.

For now, let’s just take a note that there are some exceptions.

Let’s try the next one.

Myra:
3. A deserted square.
Antonio: Una piazza deserta.

Myra:
4. A shiny ring.
Antonio: Un anello molto brillante.

Myra:
6. An elderly woman.
Antonio: Una donna anziana.

Myra:
Bravissimi.
You’ve just practiced the most common adjective pattern in Italian.
Now, how about the adjectives that don’t follow this rule?

Adjectives that come BEFORE the noun

While most adjectives come after the noun in Italian, there are four main groups that usually move before the noun.

Antonio: Quattro?

Myra: Beh… in realtà cinque.
Actually five.

But we’re saving the fifth one, the expressive, emotional adjectives - for the next episode, along with  those that change the meaning.

Antonio: Ah bene… per un attimo pensavo fossero trenta.

Myra: Thirty rules! Please let’s not scare away our ascoltatori, justyet.

Antonio: Ma no, sto scherzando!

Myra: The four categories are:

1. Identity words like altro, stesso
2. Quantity words like ogni, qualche, pochi, diversi
3. Order words like primo, ultimo, prossimo
4. Structure words that define the nature or function of something, like principale, vero, unico

And finally, there is a small set of descriptive adjectives that move before the noun when we want to add emotion, emphasis, or style. But you guessed it. Those are moving to the next episode.

Practice 3 – Adjectives Before the noun

Let’s take a closer look at these four categories.

1. Identity

Myra:
The same story.
Antonio: La stessa storia.
Myra: This is an identity adjective. It tells us which story.

Myra:
Another idea.
Antonio: Un’altra idea.
Myra: This is also identity.

2. Quantity

Myra:
Each day.
Antonio: Ogni giorno.
Myra: This is quantity.

Myra:
A few minutes.
Antonio: Pochi minuti.
Myra: Also quantity.

Myra:
Several questions.
Antonio: Diverse domande.
Myra: Another example of quantity.

3. Order

Myra:
The next chapter.
Antonio: Il prossimo capitolo.
Myra: This is order.

Myra:
The last time.
Antonio: L’ultima volta.
Myra: Another order word.

4. Essential Nature

Myra:
A true story.
Antonio: Una vera storia.
Myra: This adjective expresses the authentic nature of the story. It tells us that the story is true in its essence, not just descriptive. That’s why vera comes before the noun.

Myra:
The only solution.
Antonio: L’unica soluzione.
Myra: Here, unica means that there is one solution and no other. It expresses exclusivity - the fundamental status of the solution. Because it’s describing the essence, it comes before the noun.

Myra:
A simple question.
Antonio: Una semplice domanda.

Myra: In this meaning, semplice doesn’t just mean “not complicated.” It’s saying that the question is nothing more than a question, expressing its essential nature. So in this sense, it naturally moves before the noun.

I want to mention here, that semplice can also come after the noun when it just means easy or not complicated. But, when it means mere or nothing more than, it comes before the noun.

Myra: I’d like to add a little note here.

Some adjectives describe the role, classification, or official status of something, like principale, centrale, or legale.

These do not express the essential nature of the noun.
They describe what the thing does, not what the thing is.

Therefore, these adjectives stay AFTER the noun:

Myra: the main entrance
Antonio:  l’ingresso principale

Myra: the central headquaters or the main office of a company
Antonio:  la sede centrale

Myra: the legal department
Antonio: il reparto legale

So, if you hear l’ingresso principale, that’s the correct order. It follows the default rule (adjective after the noun).

Recap

Let’s recap these two rules. 

Rule number one:
Most adjectives in Italian come after the noun.

Antonio:
Una donna anziana.
Un cappotto scuro.
Un ingresso lussuoso.

Myra: These adjectives describe a characteristic. The woman is elderly. The coat is dark. The lobby is luxurious. And in Italian, these usually come after the noun.

Rule number two:
Some adjectives come before the noun.
These often express quantity, identity, order, or essential nature. 

Antonio: Regola chiarissima. L’ho inventata io, sai?
Crystal-clear rule. I invented it, you know?

Myra: You did not invent Italian adjective order.

Antonio:
E come fai a saperlo? Tu, a quell’epoca, mica c’eri.
And how would you know? You weren’t around in those days, now were you?

Myra:
“Vero, io non c’ero secoli fa… ma nemmeno tu, giusto? …Giusto?”
True, I wasn’t around centuries ago… but neither were you, right? …Right?

Antonio:
Mettiamola così: la storia dell’italiano la conosco molto bene.
Let’s put it this way: I know the history of Italian very well.

Myra:
Wait. What do you mean?
Are you telling me you’ve met people? Historical people?

Antonio:
Mah… dipende cosa intendi per storico.
Well… depends on what you mean by “historical.”

Myra:
Antonio, you’re making it sound like you used to have coffee with Leonardo da Vinci.
Or hung out with Verdi.
Or chatted about grammar with Dante!

Antonio:
Myra, per favore… con Dante non parlavamo solo di grammatica.
Si discuteva di cose molto più profonde.
Ma sì, ogni tanto prendeva qualche consiglio da me…
soprattutto in quella selva oscura…

Myra, please… Dante and I didn’t talk only about grammar.
 We discussed much deeper things.
 But yes, every now and then he took a bit of advice from me…
 especially in that dark wood…

Myra:
In the dark wood? You were with Dante when he wrote that?  I know he was in exile.  But what was he like? Era tutto impettito?
Was he very full of himself?

Or could you talk to him? Was he a regular guy?

Antonio:
Myra… Dante era tutto, tranne che “pieno di sé”.
Era intenso, appassionato… sempre con la testa piena di idee.
Un poeta vero.
Certo, a volte si perdeva nei suoi pensieri e bisognava riportarlo sulla terra.

Myra…Dante was anything but full of himself.
 He was intense, passionate... always with a head full of ideas.
 A true poet.
 Of course, sometimes he got lost in his thoughts and had to be brought back to earth.
 

Myra:

He had to be brought down? From where? From above? Or from below? Where did you leave him? 

Antonio:
Amor, ch’a nullo amato amar perdona…»
Love, which absolves no one loved from loving in return…

Myra:
You’re quoting Francesca da Rimini!
Francesca… and Paolo, the lovers swept away by passion
the ones Dante meets in the circle of the lustful.

Antonio:
Proprio loro. Dante ascoltava… e scriveva.
Exactly. Dante listened… and he wrote.

Myra:
And you had something to do with that?

Antonio:
Mah… diciamo che qualche suggerimento gliel’ho dato.
Let’s just say I gave him a suggestion or two.

Quando l’ispirazione chiama…
 When inspiration calls…

Myra:
Stai scherzando.
You are joking.

Antonio:
Se lo dici tu.
If you say so.

Practice 4 - Before or After?

Myra: So, back to our two rules. I’d like to see if our Studenti Saggi can decide whether the adjective belongs before or after the noun in these examples:

Myra:An interesting film.

Antonio: Un film interessante.
Myra: This is a descriptive adjective, so it comes after.

Myra: A closed door.

Antonio: Una porta chiusa.
Myra: This is a participle used as an adjective, so it comes after.

Myra: A narrow street.

Antonio: Una strada stretta.
Myra: This is descriptive, so it comes after.

Myra: Every student.

Antonio: Ogni studente.
Myra: This is quantity, so it comes before.

Myra: The next stop.

Antonio: La prossima fermata.
Myra: This is order, so it comes before.

Myra: The last chapter.

Antonio: L’ultimo capitolo.
Myra: Order again, so before the noun.

Myra: Another example.

Antonio: Un altro esempio.
Myra: This is identity, so before the noun.

Myra: Several problems.

Antonio: Diversi problemi.
Myra: Quantity, so before the noun.

Myra: A comfortable chair.

Antonio: Una sedia comoda.
Myra: This is descriptive, so it comes after.

Ottimo lavoro.
 Great work. 

Are you starting to hear how normal and natural this positioning of adjectives  feels in Italian. 

Le Pagine del Passato  - Chapter 2 - Messaggi dall'Aldilà

Part 2 with Guided Practice
Now we’re ready to listen to Part 2 of Chapter 2 of Le Pagine del Passato. It will be in Italian only, and at slower speed than normal.  But we’ll stop from time to time. When the story uses a noun and an adjective, that employes rule 1 or rule 2, I’ll invite you to say the phrase in Italian before Antonio does. See if you can predict the correct word order.

Antonio:

“Finalmente sei qui,” ha detto Mariella, tirando un sospiro di sollievo.

“Hai la lettera?” ha chiesto Zina, abbassando la voce come se qualcuno potesse sentire.

“Sì, ce l’ho,” ha risposto Mariella, tirando fuori la busta dalla tasca interna.

“Bene,” ha detto Zina. “Allaccia la cintura e tieni l’ombrello a portata di mano. Penso che potrebbe piovere di nuovo oggi.”

Mentre attraversavano la città, Mariella non ha potuto fare a meno di notare 

Myra: Here you want to say: another person.

Antonio: un’altra persona in piedi sotto a 

Myra: Now you want to say: another streetlamp

Antonio: un altro lampione più a vanti.

Sembrava la stessa 

Myra: Here you need: elderly woman.

Antonio: donna anziana di poco prima, ma si è detta,“Ora basta! Non è possibile.”

La figura, avvolta in 

Myra: Now we have a phrase that we saw earlier. But this one’s a little bit tricky. See if you can guess what it should be and then we’ll talk about this one in the next episode: a long dark coat. 

Antonio: un lungo cappotto scuro, questa volta stringeva un medaglione appeso al collo.

“Hai visto?” ha chiesto Mariella, accennando con la testa verso la figura.

“Visto cosa?” ha risposto Zina.

“Non lo so,” ha risposto Mariella. “Qualunque cosa sia, mi ricorda un po’ mia nonna Maria.”

"La ricordo bene." disse Zina. “Cerca di non pensarci”, ha commentato Zina.

Zina ha parcheggiato la macchina davanti all’edificio in cui si trovava l’ufficio dell’avvocato, a pochi chilometri dal centro città, e le due amiche sono entrate nel 

Myra: Now here you need to say luxurious lobby. There are two correct answers here. We’ll explain more later.

Antonio: lussuoso ingresso.

Le pareti erano coperte di 

Myra: Next, refined artwork. Again, are two correct answers. 

Antonio: raffinate opere d’arte, e Mariella poteva giurare di sentire odore di soldi ovunque.

All’improvviso, le luci dell’ingresso si sono spente.

“Accendi la torcia del telefono!” le ha ordinato Zina. “Deve essere un black-out causato dal vento.”

Mariella ha fatto come richiesto, illuminando il pavimento davanti a loro e l’elenco degli uffici accanto agli ascensori.

“Dammi la lettera,” ha detto Zina, prendendola con mano ferma.

“Ufficio 201. OK, non è così male. Prendi queste scale. Io sarò proprio dietro di te.”

Mariella ha rabbrividito, il cuore le batteva forte. Ma ha fatto come le ha detto l’amica ed è salita al secondo piano, con Zina a pochi passi dietro di lei.

Review Answers - Story Interaction Exercise

Myra:
How did you do? Before we listen again at normal speed, let’s review the phrases we stopped for. We will look at each one and connect it to the rules we learned today.

Let’s start from the top.

✅ 1. un’altra persona

Myra:
Here we have “another person.”
“Altra” is an adjective of identity. It tells us which person, not what kind of person.
And adjectives of quantity and identity usually come before the noun.
So the order is: un’altra persona.

✅ 2. un altro lampione

Myra:
Same idea here. “Altro” again expresses identity. It identifies another lamp post.
So it also comes before the noun: un altro lampione.

✅ 3. donna anziana

Myra:
Now this one follows the default rule. “Anziana” describes the woman. It tells us something about her, like a characteristic.
Descriptive adjectives normally come after the noun.
So we get: una donna anziana.

✅ 4. lungo cappotto scuro

Myra:
This one is fun, because we have two adjectives.
“Lungo” usually comes before the noun when it adds emphasis or style. It creates an image. We’ll talk more about this in our next episode.
But “scuro” simply describes the coat, so it follows the noun.
That is why we say: un lungo cappotto scuro.

✅ 5. lussuoso ingresso

Myra:
“Lussuoso” is a descriptive adjective. In Italian, descriptive adjectives usually come after the noun, so if you said “ingresso lussuoso” you were not wrong. However, descriptive adjectives can sometimes appear before the noun for stylistic reasons, especially in more formal or literary language.
In the story, you hear it before the noun: un lussuoso ingresso.
Again, stylistic adjective placement will be covered more in the next episode.

✅ 6. raffinate opere d’arte

Myra:
“Raffinate” is a descriptive adjective, and the neutral position is after the noun; opere d’arte raffinate.
But, once again, Italian sometimes places descriptive adjectives before the noun in more expressive or literary phrases.
The story uses the more expressive version: raffinate opere d’arte.
And both are completely correct.

Replay Chapter 2 Part 2 - Normal Speed

Now let’s listen to Part 2 of Chapter 2 again without interruptions, at a natural speed.
 And as we do, let’s not forget the original focus of this chapter, the imperativo.
Do you hear any new commands? Do they sound right to you?

If you have questions, feel free to reach out, by SpeakPipe, by text, or by email.
All the links are in the show notes.

Antonio, puoi leggerlo ancora una volta alla velocità normale?

Antonio:
Certo. Ascoltiamo tutto di nuovo.

“Finalmente sei qui,” ha detto Mariella, tirando un sospiro di sollievo.

“Hai la lettera?” ha chiesto Zina, abbassando la voce come se qualcuno potesse sentire.

“Sì, ce l’ho,” ha risposto Mariella, tirando fuori la busta dalla tasca interna.

“Bene,” ha detto Zina. “Allaccia la cintura e tieni l’ombrello a portata di mano. Penso che potrebbe piovere di nuovo oggi.”

Mentre attraversavano la città, Mariella non ha potuto fare a meno di notare un’altra persona in piedi sotto a un altro lampione più avanti.

Sembrava la stessa donna anziana di poco prima, ma si è detta,“Ora basta! Non è possibile.”

La figura, avvolta in un lungo cappotto scuro, questa volta stringeva un medaglione appeso al collo.

“Hai visto?” ha chiesto Mariella, accennando con la testa verso la figura.

“Visto cosa?” ha risposto Zina.

“Non lo so,” ha risposto Mariella. “Qualunque cosa sia, mi ricorda un po’ mia nonna Maria.”

"La ricordo bene." disse Zina. “Cerca di non pensarci”, ha commentato Zina.

Zina ha parcheggiato la macchina davanti all’edificio in cui si trovava l’ufficio dell’avvocato, a pochi chilometri dal centro città, e le due amiche sono entrate nel lussuoso ingresso.

Le pareti erano coperte di raffinate opere d’arte, e Mariella poteva giurare di sentire odore di soldi ovunque.

All’improvviso, le luci dell’ingresso si sono spente.

“Accendi la torcia del telefono!” le ha ordinato Zina. “Deve essere un black-out causato dal vento.”

Mariella ha fatto come richiesto, illuminando il pavimento davanti a loro e l’elenco degli uffici accanto agli ascensori.

“Dammi la lettera,” ha detto Zina, prendendola con mano ferma.

“Ufficio 201. OK, non è così male. Prendi queste scale. Io sarò proprio dietro di te.”

Mariella ha rabbrividito, il cuore le batteva forte. Ma ha fatto come le ha detto l’amica ed è salita al secondo piano, con Zina a pochi passi dietro di lei.

Wrap-up

Myra:

Bravissimi.  Now that you have practiced the two main patterns of adjective placement, and you can see that there are some exceptions to the rules in more expressive or literary phrases, try to listen for them when you hear Italians speak, or when you read Italian narratives and try putting these two rules to work.

In Part 2 of this topic, we’ll look at adjectives that change meaning depending on whether they’re before or after the noun, and we’ll answer Paul’s question about bel film versus film bellissimo.

Alla prossima!

Ciao ciao!