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Grammar Lesson 33:

Gli aggettivi dimostrativi: Italian demonstrative adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives modify a noun (or a pronoun) determining its position in time or space.

To put it simply: they are used to point out to a certain person or thing.

In Italian they agree in gender and number with the person or thing determined and always come before the noun.

Just like English, you don't use the article before the demonstrative adjectives.

The demonstrative adjective used to express proximity to the speaker is questo (in all its forms).

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	questo	questi
Feminine	questa	queste

—> NOTE that it is possible to elide questo when the word that comes after it begins with a vowel, but only in the singular form (both masculine and feminine)

Examples:

Quest'anno sono stato molto bravo a scuola / This year I did very well in school

Quest'estate fa molto caldo / This summer it's very hot

Questi anni sono sembrati eterni / These years felt like ages

Queste due ultime estati che abbiamo trascorso insieme sono state le migliori / These last two summers that we've spent together have been the best

The elision is compulsory in the expressions quest'ultimo / quest'ultima when used to refer to the last element in a pair or a sequence.

For example:

Alla festa c'erano Marco, Anna e Mariangela. Quest'ultima ha cantato una canzone / At the party there were Marco, Anna, and Mariangela. This last one sang a song.

but you can say:

Lascio a te questa ultima fetta di torta / I leave this last piece of cake to you

Questo (and all its forms) can be used also as a pronoun.

It can be found beside quello in a sentence, and it is then picked to refer to the thing or action closer in time.

For example:

Ho guardato il quadro di Marco e quello di Anna. Questo mi è parso più interessante. / I've looked at Marco's painting and at Anna's. This one (Anna's) seemed more interesting to me.

Used as a pronoun in the masculine singular form questo means "this thing".

Examples:

Sono venuto per dirti questo: ti amo / I have come to tell you this: I love you

Era a questo che miravi? / So you were aiming at this?

The expression per questo can be used instead of the adverb perciò, meaning "therefore", "so", "that's why", or "for this reason".

For example:

Sei diventata fredda e distante, per questo non ti amo più / You've grown cold and distant, that's why I don't love you anymore

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