Learning a little bit about this, that, these and those in Italian
At the bottom of this page you will find resources which are available where you can learn more on this subject.In Italian there are 3 ways to write or say "This" and 2 ways to write or say "These". The following is a list of those five ways with the rules dictating when each is used;
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Italian Quest’ Questo Questa Queste Questi |
English This This This These These |
Rules for use Used with all singular nouns starting with a vowel Used with all other masculine singular nouns Used with all other feminine singular nouns Used with all feminine plural nouns Used with all masculine plural nouns |
Example Quest'albero Questo ragazzo Questa motocicletta Queste forchette Questi piatti |
In Italian there are 4 ways to write or say "That" and 3 ways to write or say "Those". The following is a list of those seven ways with the rules dictating when each is used;
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Italian Quell’ Quello Quel Quegli Quei Quell’ Quella Quelle |
Italian That That That Those Those That That Those |
Rules for use Masculine singular before nouns starting with a vowel Masculine singular before nouns starting with Z or an S + a consonant Masculine singular before all other masculine nouns Masculine plural for nouns starting with a vowel, Z or an S + a consonant Masculine plural for all other masculine plural nouns Feminine singular before nouns starting with a vowel Feminine singular before all other feminine nouns Feminine plural before all feminine nouns |
Example Quell'aereo Quello studente Quel bambino Quegli uomini Quei ragazzi Quell'autostrada Quella donna Quelle bambine |
When used with nouns as in the examples above, the words questi, quello, questo, etc are "Demonstrative Adjectives" because they point to and object or person mentioned in the sentence thus modifying it by specifying that object or person.
These can also be used as "Demonstrative Pronouns". This happens when they take the place of the "Demonstrative Phrase" created by the use of the adjective. Example;
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Demonstrative Adjective Demonstrative Phrase Demonstrative Pronoun |
Those Those plates Those |
Thus, it starts with;
1. What plates are you talking about? (plates being the noun in question)
2. I am talking about those plates. (those being a demonstrative adjective)
3. I am talking about those. (those being a demonstrative pronoun)
This is also basically how it also works in Italian. When used as a pronoun the demonstratives still retain the gender and number properties that they would have had as an adjective. Example;
Che cosa hai bisogno? Ho bisogno di questi bicchieri. Hai bisogno di quei? Sì, ho bisogno di questi.
| You can learn more about this, that, these and those in Italian on pages 133 - 135 of the book "English Grammar for Students of Italian" by Sergio Adorni and Karen Primorac, copyright 1995. If you do not own this book, don't worry, it is not mandatory that you do. However, it can be very useful in a lot of ways and if you would like to know more about this book and where to buy it, click on the graphic link to the right or simply go to our online bookstore. | You can learn more about this, that, these and those in Italian on pages 150 - 152 (page #'s may vary as I have an older edition) of "Ciao", copyright 1986. If you do not own this book, don't worry, it is not mandatory that you do. However, it can be very useful in a lot of ways and if you would like to know more about this book and where to buy it, click on the graphic link to the right or simply go to our online bookstore. | You can learn more about this, that, these and those in Italian on pages 79 -81 of "Complete Italian Grammar" by Marcel Dansesi, copyright 1976. If you do not own this book, don't worry, it is not mandatory that you do. However, it can be very useful in a lot of ways and if you would like to know more about this book and where to buy it, click on the graphic link to the right or simply go to our online bookstore. |
