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Grammar Lesson 28:

Invariable adjectives

Some adjectives are invariable (they don't agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to).

Among these:

1. The adjective pari / even, equal (and the adjectives that are derived from it, such as dispari / odd; impari / uneven, unbalanced):

Examples:

- Due è un numero pari / two is an even number

- È una lotta impari / It's an unbalanced struggle

- Pari opportunità / Equal opportunities

2. Some adjectives describing colours:

- blu / blue

- rosa / pink

- viola / purple

Examples:

- Il tuo cappotto è blu / Your coat is blue

- I miei guanti sono blu / My gloves are blue

- Anna non trova più la sua sciarpa blu / Anna can't find her blue scarf

3. Compound adjectives referring to shades of colours, such as bianco-grigio / white-grey

azzurro carta da zucchero / powder blue and so on (you obtain them by joining together two adjectives describing colours):

Examples:

- Il suo cappotto è grigio-azzurro / His coat is grey-blue

- L'ala grigio-azzurro della sera / The grey-blue wing of the evening

- Hai visto la mia tazza da tè azzurro carta da zucchero? / Have you seen my powder blue mug?

4. Adjectives formed by the prefix anti + noun:

Examples:

- I fari antinebbia / The fog lights

- Il liquido antigelo / The antifreeze

5. The infinitive form of the verb avvenire (to happen) used as an attribute:

Examples:

- I giorni avvenire / The days ahead

- Le generazioni avvenire / Future generations

(Rarely written separately a venire - which literally means "to come" —> giorni a venire / days to come)

6. Some adverbial forms used as adjectives, such as perbene (decent, respectable) and dappoco (worthless):

Examples:

- È un uomo perbene / He's a decent man

- Sono gente perbene / They're decent people

- Sei un uomo dappoco / You're a worthless man

- Siete persone dappoco / You're worthless people

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