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Grammar Lesson 34:

Italian demonstrative adjectives: quello

Quello (in all its forms) is the demonstrative adjective used to refer to persons or things "over there". The English equivalent would be "that, those".

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	quello / quell' / quel	quei / quegli
Feminine	quella / quell'	quelle

How to use:

The masculine singular form quello is used before z, impure s (s+consonant), x, ps, gn

Examples:

Quello zaino / That rucksack

Quello psicologo / That psychologist

The elided masculine singular form quell' is used before vowels

Examples:

Quell'anno / That year

Quell'armadio / That cupboard (wardrobe)

The masculine singular form quel is used before all consonants [except for z, impure s (s+consonant), x, ps, gn]

Examples:

Quel cane / That dog

Quel fiume / That river

The feminine singular form quella is used before all consonants

Examples:

Quella donna / That woman

Quella ragazza / That girl

The feminine singular form quell' is used before all vowels

Examples:

Quell'anatra / That duck

Quell'oliva / That olive

The masculine plural form quei is used before all consonants [except for z, impure s (s+consonant), x, ps, gn]

Examples:

Quei cani / Those dogs

Quei ragazzi / Those kids

The masculine plural form quegli is used before vowels, z, impure s (s+consonant), x, ps, gn]

Examples:

Quegli inizi / Those beginnings

Quegli armadi / Those cupboards (wardrobes)

There is only one form the for feminine plural, and is quelle

Examples:

Quelle donne / Those women

Quelle altalene / Those swings

Quello can be used also as a pronoun. When used as a pronoun, its plural form is reduced to quelli, as quegli is the third-person masculine singular form referring to persons (see specific lesson dedicated to that).

For example:

Io prendo questo cappello, tu quello / I take this hat you take that

Used as a pronoun in the masculine singular form quello means "that thing" "what".

Examples:

Non sono venuto per quello, ho altre cose da dirti / I didn't come here for that, I have other things to tell you

Quello che intendevo dire è che ti amo / What I meant is that I love you

Quello (in all its forms) is used sometimes as a pejorative term. It adds a disparaging shade to one's reference. In that acception it is often accompanied by the adverbs of place lì and là.

For example:

Quello lì è un furbo / That guy is a sly one

Quella là vuole solo farsi sposare / That girl just wants to get married

Quelli lì sono dei ladri / Those guys are thieves

Quelle lì non sanno proprio farsi gli affari loro / Those girls have no idea of what it means to mind one's own business

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