Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns in Italian — Italian grammar A2

Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns

In a shop, in a café, in the street we are constantly pointing: “this”, “that”, “the same”. In Italian the dimostrativi (demonstratives) do this job. The most important pair is questo (this, near me) and quello (that, further away). Note: quello before a noun behaves like the definite article and changes form depending on the first letter of the word — this is the core of this sheet.

‹ Italian grammar

Level: A2 · 18 min of study

— Scusi, vorrei quella torta. — Quale? Questa qui davanti? — No, quella lì, accanto ai biscotti. — Ah, questa stessa la prendo anch'io ogni giorno!

Questo e quello: vicino e lontano

Look at the examples and notice the pattern: questo points to something NEAR the speaker (“this one here”), quello to something FAR (“that one over there”). Both agree in gender and number with the noun, like ordinary adjectives: questo/questa/questi/queste. KEY RULE ABOUT THE ARTICLE: after questo and quello we do NOT put an article. We say questo libro (not “questo il libro”), because the demonstrative already “determines” the noun by itself.

Questo caffè è ottimo.
Questa città mi piace molto.
Questi libri sono nuovi.
Quelle scarpe lì costano troppo.

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