In this article, we will consider degrees of comparison of adjectives in Italian, as well as the position of adjectives in Italian in relation to nouns.

Adjectives in Italian form their comparative form with adverbs più and adjectives with di, che or meno: essere più utile che piacevole - to be more useful than pleasant

in meno tempo - in a shorter time

It should be noted that the words di, che, come, quanto correspond to the Russian "what" and "how". The preposition di is used when comparing two nouns or pronouns:

è più bella di te – she is prettier than you

When comparing two adjectives, two phrases with a preposition, two adverbs or two verbs, che is used:

meglio tardi che mai - better late than never

When comparing the same qualities (the same as) in Italian they use (cosi) .... come, (tanto) …. quanto, cosi or tanto:

sei alto come lui - you are the same height as him

Kiev è (così) grande come Roma - Kiev is as big as Rome

Superlatives for adjectives in Italian

Position of adjectives in relation to nouns in Italian

Adjectives in Italian can come before or after the noun they refer to. Adjectives that always follow nouns include:

Adjectives that indicate shape or color:

vino rosso - red wine

Adjectives that indicate political, national or religious affiliation:

lingua italiana - Italian language

Participles that act as definitions:

condizioni convenienti - suitable conditions

Polysyllabic adjectives:

un caso eccezionale - an extraordinary occurrence

Adjectives that have dependent words:

un libro molto interessante - a very interesting book

Note:

Some adjectives change their meaning depending on their position. If an adjective follows a noun, it retains its meaning; if it comes before a noun, it acquires a figurative meaning:

costar caro - cost a lot

a caro prezzo - expensive

indizio certo - sure sign

un certo fascino - some charm

grande distanza - long distance

un quadro grande - big picture

povera cena - skimpy dinner

un uomo povero - poor man

una persone sola - lonely person

una sola persona - the only person

un amico vecchio - old (elderly) friend

un vecchio amico - an old (old) friend

Back in 1963, a song written and performed by Edoardo Vianello, called "Abbronzatissima" - "Very Tanned", broke into the Italian charts, and it is on this exciting adjective in the most superlative degree that we will begin today's conversation about i gradi di comparazione in Italian .

Let's start with the basics: every Italian qualitative adjective can be in a positive degree ( il grado positivo), that is, in its original form, the comparative degree ( il grado comparativo) and superlatives ( il grado superlativo).

The comparative degree, in turn, is subdivided into:

• comparativo di maggioranza- "degree of the majority", indicating a higher degree of quality
• il comparativo di minoranza- “minority degree”, indicating a lower degree of quality
• il comparativo di ugualianza- "degree of equality", indicating that the compared objects are equal in terms of quality

Il comparative di Maggioranza formed with the help più + di or più + che.

Paolo and più alto di Stefano. “Paolo is taller than Stefano.
Stefano and più basso di Paolo. - Stefano is shorter than Paolo.
Il libro and più lungo che interessante. The book is longer than interesting.

Il comparativo di minoranza formed with the help meno + di or meno + che.

Firenze and una città meno fredda di Praga. Florence is a less cold city than Prague.
Lucia è meno portata per la danza rispetto ad Hanna. Lucia is less capable at dancing compared to Hannah.

When to use più + di, and when più + che ?

Pretext di

• when two are compared different subject or phenomena
• before numerals
• before personal pronouns

Union Che used in comparative constructions:

• when the degree of expression of different qualities of the same object or phenomenon is compared
• before prepositions
• before adverbs
• before the infinitive

Preferisco partire il 3 che il 5 mattina. I prefer to leave on the third rather than the fifth morning.
Silvia e molto più carina con te che con me. “Sylvia is much nicer to you than to me.
Per me andare per musei è molto più divertente che andare a ballare. - I'm much more interested in going to museums than going to dance clubs.

Il comparativo di ugualianza formed using the following structures:

• (così)…come(same...like/and) – used with adjectives and adverbs; così bracketed because it can often be omitted from a sentence.
• (tanto)…quanto(as much ... as much) - used with nouns and adverbs; tanto can also be omitted.

La torta cioccolata è (così) buona come la torta vaniglia. The chocolate cake is just as delicious as the vanilla one.
I ragazzi giocano (tanto) a calcio quanto a basket. Children play football as much as they play basketball.

It seems that the perception of the surrounding world is superlative in the Italian language "in the blood." But when you take a closer look at the degrees of comparison of adjectives in Italian, you will find that there are two types of superlatives in the language. Let's start with the one that will be more understandable.

Absolute superlative (il superlativo assoluto)

She expresses the highest degree qualities without comparison with other objects and is formed easily: one of the four possible forms of a suffix is ​​added to almost any quality adjective (the end of the adjective in a positive degree is omitted), and this is translated into Russian, as a rule, using an adjective in a superlative degree with suffix -aysh, -eysh.

The four forms of the suffix are as follows (remember to agree the adjective in gender and number with the noun):

-ssimo(m.s., unit)
-ssima(female, singular)
-ssimi(m.p., pl.)
-ssime(feminine, pl.)

Let's see how it works, using simple everyday phrases as an example:

Sei bellissimo. - You are very beautiful.
Quella pizza e buonissima. - This pizza is excellent.
I professori della mia scuola sono intelligentissimi. - My school has the smartest teachers.
Ho letto pochissimo del libro Guerra e Pace. - I read quite a bit of the book "War and Peace".
Mi sento malissimo oggi. - I feel disgusting today.
Non sara facilissima, ma possiamo vincere. - It won't be the easiest task, but we can win.

Please note: when forming the absolute superlative degree of adjectives that end in -co, -go (-ca, -ga) the suffix -issimo must be preceded by an unpronounceable letter h: bianco - bianchissimo, lungo - lunghissimo.

Remember that the group of adjectives malefico, benefico, benevole, malevole, magnifico, munifico forms the absolute superlative with the suffix –entissimo: magnifico - magnificentissimo.

In addition, there are adjectives that form the absolute superlative with the suffix -errimo:

acre - acerrimo(stinging, bitter - cruelest, bitterest)
integro-integerrimo(honest - honest)
celebre – celeberrimo(famous - famous)
misero - miserrimo(unfortunate - unfortunate)
salubre – saluberrimo(useful - most useful)
aspro – asperrimo(severe - the most severe, the most severe)
tetro-teterrimo(gloomy - gloomiest)
pigro – pigerrimo(lazy - laziest) - although this form is found in books, it is considered obsolete, and in spoken language commonly used form pigrissimo.

Of course, there are exceptions to this rule: for example, there are adjectives of Latin origin that already carry an “excellent” connotation in their meaning, and therefore are used instead of an adjective formed in accordance with the rule, especially if we are talking about an abstract noun (feeling, idea, idea):

ottimo- the best, excellent (instead of buonissimo)
pessimo- the worst, disgusting (instead of cattivissimo)
Massimo- maximum, maximum (instead of grandissimo)
minimo- the smallest, minimum (instead of piccolissimo)
sommo- highest, highest (instead of altissimo)
infimo- insignificant, the most insignificant (instead of bassissimo)

Thus, the "regular" and special "irregular" forms of the degrees of comparison of these adjectives in figurative meaning look like this:

Interestingly, the absolute superlative is also formed simply by repeating the adjective:

La mia amica migliore e gentile gentile . - My best friend is the sweetest, sweetest.

Also, to show the exceptional degree of something, I use adverbs molto, tanto, parecchio, assai before an adjective or prefix super-, ultra-, stra-, arci–, iper-, extra-, sovra- :

Sono tanto contento di essere qui.– I am very glad to be here.
Questi grattacieli sono super grandi. These skyscrapers are huge.
I conigli sono sovrabbondanti in primavera.– In the spring, rabbits are in abundance.

Relative superlatives (il superlativo relativo)

The relative superlative degree is used when a comparison with other objects, people or phenomena is meant, and the described object has the highest or lowest degree of the compared quality.

The relative superlative degree is formed in accordance with the formula: definite article (il, la, i, le) + comparative adjective with più/meno or irregular comparative + di/che/tra.

Sara e la più brava della classe. Sarah is the most capable in the class.
Sara e la meno brava della classe. Sarah is the least capable in the class.
Quest'albero è il più verde di tutti gli alberi. This tree is the greenest of all trees.
Mia madre è la più simpatica di tutti gli altri. - My mother is the nicest of all the rest.
Questa barca and la più piccola di tutte le barche. This boat is the smallest of all boats.
Quelli sono i vestiti meno cari che lei abbia trovato. These are the cheapest clothes she has found.
Quella ragazza and la più alta che avevo mai visto. This girl is the tallest I have ever seen.
La canzone più bella che abbia mai sentito. - The most beautiful song I've ever heard.

On the topic of adverbs, consider degrees of comparison of adverbs in Italian. Adverbs in Italian (like adjectives) form degrees of comparison. There are 3 degrees of comparison of adverbs in Italian (except for the original form): comparative, relative superlative and absolute superlative. For example, let's take the adverb tardi - late:

più tardi - later (comparative degree of comparison of an adverb)

il più tardi possibile - as late as possible (relative superlative adverb)

molto tardi, tardissimo - very late (absolute superlative adverb)

Similarly, the degrees of comparison of adverbs in Italian with the suffixes -mente (facilmente - easy) are formed:

più facilmente - easier (comparative degree of comparison of an adverb)

il più facilmente possibile - as easy as possible (relative superlative adverb)

molto facilmente, facilissimamente - very easy (absolute superlative adverb comparison)

There are some adverbs in Italian that have their own degrees of comparison. These adverbs include bene, male, molto, poco:

bene - good (initial form of adverb)

meglio - better (comparative degree of comparison of an adverb)

il meglio possibile - as best as possible (relative superlative adverb comparison)

benissimo - excellent (absolute superlative adverb comparison)

male - bad (the initial form of the adverb)

peggio - worse (comparative degree of comparison of an adverb)

il peggio possibile - as bad as possible (relative superlative adverb comparison)

malissimo - very bad, terribly bad (absolute superlative adverb)

molto - a lot (the initial form of the adverb)

più - more (comparative degree of comparison of an adverb)

il più possibile - as much as possible (relative superlative adverb)

moltissimo - a lot, most of all (absolute superlative adverb comparison)

poco - little (the initial form of the adverb)

meno - less (comparative degree of comparison of the adverb)

il meno possibile - as little as possible (relative superlative adverb)

pochissimo - least of all (absolute superlative adverb)

In addition to these degrees of comparison of adverbs in Italian, there are also synonyms that express this or that degree, for example:

bene - good, benine - pretty good, benone - great

male - bad; maluccio - not good enough

poco - little; pochino - a little, a little bit

presto - quickly, early; prestino - quickly, early

adagio - quietly, slowly; adagino - on the sly

piano - quiet; pianono - softly

This concludes the degrees of comparison of adverbs in Italian and in the next article we will consider another topic for beginners to learn Italian - the place of adverbs in an Italian sentence.

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comparative

piu’……di/che more…than

meno….di/che less….than

cosi….come the same….as

tanto…quanto is the same….ka

Where to put di and where to put Che??!!

Di used when comparing the same quality of two persons or objects. Per di followed by a noun or pronoun, and it is not always translated literally into Russian.

Che used when comparing two qualities of the same person or object. After Che usually followed by a verb, adverb, adjective, or preposition. Also Che used when two nouns are compared to each other in number.

The Russian comparative turnover “so (same) as”, “as much as” in Italian correspond to (tanto)….quanto or (cosi)….come. In this case, the comparative particles tanto and cosi can be omitted.

Superlatives

There are two forms of superlatives in Italian: relative and absolute. The relative is formed with the definite article and piu"….di:

il palazzo piu' moderno di Parigi is the most modern building in Paris.

E' il piu’ Interested di tutti - he is the most interesting of all.

Absolute superlatives are formed with the ending -issimo.