AND
DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNSThey are used to indicate a person or an object, as if pointing towards it with a finger. QUESTO (this, this one) - QUELLO (that, that one) These pronouns are used as in English, with two differences:
• in Italian they are gender-sensitive, according to the object they indicate; • the Italian ones can translate both this and this one.
questo this / this one (masculine) questa this / this ones (feminine) questi these / these ones (masculine) queste these / these ones (feminine) quello that / that one (masculine) quella that / that ones (feminine)
quelli those / those ones
(masculine) quelle
those / those ones (feminine)
questo è il tuo cane = this is your dog, or this one is your dog
quella è mia madre = that one (= that woman) is my mother
quelli sono i suoi libri = those are his/her books, or those ones are his/her books
queste sono le nostre zie = these are our aunts or these ones are our aunts
questa e quella sono identiche = this one and that one are identical
questi sono i loro figli = these (ones) are their children
These pronouns may be used either as a subject of the sentence (as in the previous examples), or as an object (as in the following sentences), in which case the English translation always includes ...one: (egli / ella) non prese questa, ma quella = he / she did not take this one, but that one
(tu) comprerai quelli = you will buy those ones
domani vernicerò questi = tomorrow I will paint these ones preferite questo o quello? = do you prefer this one or that one? They may be used for any other case (genitive, dative, etc.): cominciammo da queste = we started from these ones (feminine)
ripareranno la bicicletta con questa = they will repair the bycicle with this one (feminine) la scatola gialla è per questo, non per quello = the yellow box is for this one, not for that one
Sometimes, when demonstrative pronouns are the subject of a nominal sentence (a sentence whose verb is to be, which describes a condition or a quality rather than a real action), it is possible to reverse the subject of the sentence: this gives more emphasis to the pronoun, shifted at the bottom, as it also happens in English:
questo è il tuo cane = this (one) is your dog il tuo cane è questo = your dog is this one
quelle sono le mie penne = those (ones) are my pens le mie penne sono quelle = my pens are those ones
quella sarà la nostra scuola = that one will be our school la nostra scuola sarà quella = our school will be that one
questo era il tuo ufficio = this (one) was your office il tuo ufficio era questo = your office was this one
questi sono i loro abiti = these are their clothes il tuo posto è questo = their clothes are these ones
The postponement of the sentence's subject will be dealt with more in detail in a future paragraph. Especially in the spoken language, questo and quello are often strengthened by the use of the following adverbs: qui here qua here lì there là there The result is as follows:
(masculine) questo qui questo qua this one here
questi qui questi qua these ones here
(feminine) questa qui questa qua this one here
queste qui queste qua these ones here
(masculine) quello lì quello là that one there
quelli lì quelli là those ones there
(feminine) quella lì quella là that one there
quelle lì quelle là those ones there Note that while in qua and qui the last vowel is not accented (although they sound as if it really was), là and lì are spelt with an accented vowel, not to be mistaken with la (definite article) and li (personal pronoun used as an object, discussed at a further stage).
questa qui (or questa qua) è la mia penna = this one here is my pen
quelli là (or quelli lì) sono i miei genitori = those one (there) are my parents (essi / esse) scelsero quello là (or quello lì) = they chose that one there (noi) compreremo questo qui (or questo qua) = we shall buy this one here
In written language, instead, it is preferrable to avoid adding these adverbs to the pronouns.
COSTUI (that man) - COSTEI (that woman) COSTORO (those people)
These pronouns have no equivalent in English, so their translation can vary according to the text, or to the speech.
They are somewhat similar in meaning to egli (he), ella (she) and essi / esse (they), discussed in
paragraph 4.1, but they carry an intrinsic meaning of detachment from whom is speaking, as if referring to a stranger, or to somebody whom the speaker is not in relation with, or sometimes even to express contempt, as in making a reproach or describing the villain of a novel. For this reason their English translation is more often that man rather than this man, but several other expressions would be correct: that fellow, the bloke, the guy, he, she, and so on, according to the context.
Instead, these pronouns would never be used to address a friend, or somebody who is well-known, or the main character of a novel, and so on.
They are not too frequently used in the spoken language, while they are very common in literature. (egli) afferrò un lungo bastone = he grabbed a long stick
costui afferrò un lungo bastone = the bloke / the fellow grabbed a long stick (ella) non rispettò l'appuntamento = she did not observe the rules
costei non rispettò l'appuntamento = this woman did not observe the rules (essi / esse) nascosero i soldi sotto un mattone = they hid the money under a brick
costoro nascosero i soldi sotto un mattone = those people hid the money under a brick (essi / esse) arrivano sempre tardi = they always arrive late
costoro arrivano sempre tardi = those people always arrive late QUESTI (this / that person)
Used mainly in written language, especially in literature, questi (note the inflection, apparently the plural form of questo), may be sometimes used as an alternative for costui, i.e. a singular pronoun.
It still carries a meaning of "person rather new to the context", for instance it could be used for a side character in a novel, but it never expresses contempt.
(egli) afferrò un lungo bastone = he grabbed a long stick
costui afferrò un lungo bastone = the bloke grabbed a long stick
questi afferrò un lungo bastone = he / the man grabbed a long stick (egli) veniva da un paese lontano = he came from a faraway country
costui veniva da un paese lontano = the man / the fellow came from a faraway country
questi veniva da un paese lontano = he / this person came from a faraway country
Note how the verb's inflections are always singular after this particular questi, and this would be enough to mark its meaning:
questi veniva da un paese lontano = he / this person came from a faraway country
questi venivano da un paese lontano = these (ones) came from a faraway country
The student will rarely hear this pronoun in spoken language, although it is a good thing to know it exists, not to mistake this singular questi with its more frequent plural meaning.
CIÒ (this / that)
This very common pronoun, equals in meaning to questo, discussed above, is used to indicate inanimate objects, general concepts, situations, etc.
Once again, the written language uses it more than the spoken language (which often prefers questo to ciò), but it is not a merely literary pronoun.
ciò è bene per tutti = questo è bene per tutti (spoken language) = this is good for everybody (egli) rubò il gioiello, e ciò è molto grave = he stole the jewel, and this is very serious
ciò non migliorò la nostra situazione = this did not improve our situation
While questo and quello (variously inflected) may be turned into adjectives, as will be explained in the second part of this paragraph, costui and ciò are pure pronouns.
DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES
When demonstrative pronouns questo (questa, questi, queste) and quello (quella, quelli, quelle) are followed by a noun, they turn into adjectives.
In this case, a few changes occur to match phonetically the first letter of the following word: QUESTO - QUELLO (masculine singular)
When questo is followed by a noun beginning with a vowel, it makes an elision, i.e. it drops the last ...o, whose place is taken by an apostrophe:
questo cane = this dog quest'occhio = this eye quest'anno = this year quest'uomo = this man quest'inverno = this winter
Forms such as questo occhio, questo anno, etc. are still accepted, although the most correct form is the one with an elision.
Pronoun quello instead, changes according to the same rule described for article lo (see paragraph 2.4): • when the following name begins with a vowel it turns into quell', with an apostrophe;
• when the following name begins with Z or with S + consonant (sb..., sc..., sd..., etc.) it remains as it is;
• when the following name starts with a consonant it turns into quel (simply dropping ...lo, without an apostrophe).
quel cane = that dog quell'uomo = that man quello sport = that sport quel tavolo = that table quell'anno = that year quello zucchero = that sugar
QUESTA - QUELLA (feminine singular)
questa only makes an elision (i.e. quest' with an apostrophe) if the following name begins with a vowel: questa casa = this house
quest'automobile = this car questa strada = this road quest'orchestra = this orchestra questa penna = this pen
quest'acqua = this water
And quella changes in a similar way: quella casa = that house
quell'automobile = that car quella strada = that road quell'orchestra = that orchestra quella penna = that pen
quell'acqua = that water
The elision may be sometimes omitted to give these demonstrative pronouns a stronger emphasis, almost as underlining the noun they refer to:
quest'uomo generically translates this man
questo uomo translates this man, as if meaning ...not any other one quell'automobile è veloce plainly translates that car is fast
quella automobile è veloce gives the sentence a meaning of that car is fast (not this one) In these cases, they are spelt (and pronounced) throughoutly, to stress their meaning.
QUESTI - QUESTE AND QUELLI - QUELLE (plural)
Pronouns questi, queste and quelle do not have any phonetic changes: questi uomini = these men
questi numeri = these numbers questi alberi = these trees questi scudi = these shields queste idee = these ideas queste carte = these cards queste armi = these weapons queste zone = these zones questi idioti = these idiots questi giardini = these gardens questi operai = these workmen questi strumenti = these instruments
The adjective quelli, instead, changes into quei or into quegli, according to the same rules by which definite articles i or gli are used (see paragraph 2.4):
quegli is used when the following word begins with a vowel, or with z..., or with cluster s + consonant (sb...; sc...; etc.)
quegli uomini = those men quegli occhiali = those glasses quegli zoccoli = those clogs quegli schermi = those screens quei is used in all other cases: quei tavoli = those tables quei piatti = those dishes quei serpenti = those snakes quei libri = those books
Remember that such phonetic changes take place according to the next following word, not necessarily to the noun which the adjective relates to: