Alto o Basso? Tall or Short? Basic Descriptions of People in Italian
In this post we’ll learn some basic descriptions of people in Italian. We’ll start with some physical descriptions, so you’ll learn basic adjectives like tall and short. Then we’ll move on to other descriptions of people that aren’t physical, so you’ll learn how to talk about people’s moods and personalities.
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Basic Physical Descriptions of People in Italian
Let’s start with some basic adjectives that you can use to describe people’s physical characteristics: alto/alta tall;basso/bassa short; giovane (piccolo/piccola) young; anziano/ anziana (vecchio/ vecchia) old; grasso/grassa fat; magro/magra thin; bellissimo/bellissima beautiful; brutto/brutta ugly.
GRAMMAR TIP!
Did you notice that a lot of those adjectives have two forms, one that ends in –o (alto, basso) and one that ends in –a (alta, bassa)? Adjectives in Italian agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the nouns they describe. Many adjectives have four forms: -o (masculine singular), –a (feminine singular), -i (masculine plural) and -e (feminine plural). For example:
un ragazzo alto (a tall boy)
una ragazza alta (a tall girl)
ragazzi alti (tall boys)
ragazze alte (tall girls)
But for adjectives that end in -e in the singular, like giovane, there’s one singular form in -e, and one plural form in –i:
un giovane ragazzo (a young boy)
una giovane ragazza (a young girl)
giovani ragazzi (young boys)
giovani ragazze (young girls)
Let’s see some examples:
- La donna è alta/ magra.
The woman is tall/ thin. - Le donne sono alte/magre.
The women are tall/ thin. - L’uomo è basso/ grasso.
The man is short/ fat. - Gli uomini sono bassi / grassi.
The men are short/ fat. - Mio nonno è vecchio.
My grandfather is old. - Mia nonna è vecchia.
My grandmother is old. - Il ragazzo è giovane.
The boy is young. - Abbiamo un figlio piccolo.
We have a young (little) son.
Other Basic Descriptions of People in Italian
Now let’s see a few more adjectives that describe people’s moods or emotions or other non-physical characteristics: contento/contenta, felice happy; triste sad; intelligente intelligent; folle foolish; interessante interesting; popolare popular; sportivo/sportiva sporty; pigro/pigra lazy; forte strong; debole weak; coraggioso/coraggiosa brave; timido/timida shy; loquace talkative; silenzioso/ silenziosa quiet; sposato/ sposata married; celibe/nubile single; simpatico/simpatica, amichevole friendly, nice; antipatico/antipatica, ostile unfriendly, mean.
- La donna è intelligente.
The woman is intelligent. - Le donne sono intelligenti.
The women are intelligent. - L’uomo è forte.
The man is strong. - È un uomo forte.
He is a strong man. - È una donna forte.
She is a strong woman. - Gli uomini sono forti.
The men are strong. - Mia sorella è simpatica/antipatica.
My sister is friendly/ unfriendly. - Mio fratello è amichevole / ostile.
My brother is friendly/mean. - La ragazza è timida.
The girl is shy. - Le nostre figlie sono timide.
Our daughters are shy. - Sei felice o triste?
Are you happy or sad? - Il nostro insegnante è interessante.
Our teacher is interesting. - È una cantante popolare.
She’s a popular singer. - L’ufficiale di polizia è coraggioso.
The police officer is brave.
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