Italian demonstrative adjectives

ITALIAN DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES (THIS, THAT…)

Today we’ll talk about some Italian words that we use every day: demonstratives!

Demonstratives can identify objects or people, points in the surrounding space, and moments in time. To interpret them, in particular, it is necessary to refer to where the speaker is in terms of time and place, as they identify objects or people based on their proximity or distance from the speaker.

They can work both as adjectives (in this case they’re placed in front of a noun) and pronouns (in this case they substitute the noun).

THIS: QUESTO, QUESTA, QUEST’

Questo, questa, and quest’ all mean “this“, and are demonstrative adjectives used before singular words. We use them when we are talking about something near us in space or time.

PATTERN

QUESTO/QUESTA/QUEST’ + SINGULAR WORDS

Cosa fai questo weekend?

_{What are you doing this weekend?}

Ti piace questo maglione?

_{Do you like this sweater?}

Questa sedia è scomoda.

_{This chair is uncomfortable.}

They can also be used when we are telling a story; it’s like we are inside the story, so it feels like the noun we are referring to is near:

Allora sono salito sul treno e vicino a me si è seduto questo tipo strano…

_{So I got on the train and this strange guy sat next to me…}

How do you choose between questo, questa, and quest’? That’s quite simple:

	questo	questa	quest’
USED WITH	Singular masculine words	Singular feminine words	Singular words starting with a vowel
EXAMPLES	Questo ragazzo, questo zaino	Questa rosa, questa sedia	Quest'anno, quest'estate *

*but you can also say questa estate

THAT: QUELLO, QUELLA, QUEL, QUELL’

Quello, quel, quella and quell’ all mean “that“, and are demonstrative adjectives used before singular words.

PATTERN

QUELLO/QUELLA/QUEL/QUELL’ + SINGULAR WORDS

We use them when we are talking about something far from us in space or time:

ITALIAN	ENGLISH
Cos’hai fatto quel weekend?	What did you do on that weekend?
Ti piace quel maglione?	Do you like that sweater?
Quella sedia è scomoda.	That chair is uncomfortable.

How do you choose between quello, quel, quella, and quell’? That’s quite simple:

	quel	QUELLO	quella	quell’
USED WITH	Singular masculine words	Singular masculine words starting with: s+consonant, gn, pn, ps, x, y, z	Singular feminine words	Singular words starting with a vowel
EXAMPLES	Quel giorno, quel ragazzo	Quello studio, quello zaino	Quella penna, quella storia	Quell'amico, quell'ora

THESE: QUESTI, QUESTE

The Italian demonstratives meaning “these” are very simple: we use questi with any plural masculine word referring to things close to the speaker in terms of time and place and queste with feminine ones.

PATTERN

QUESTI/QUESTE + PLURAL WORDS

ITALIAN	ENGLISH
In questi giorni mi sono riposato un po’.	These days I got some rest.
Questi vestiti sono caldi.	These clothes are warm.
Queste riunioni non finiscono mai.	These meetings are never-ending.

How do you choose between questi and queste?

	questi	QUEste
USED WITH	Plural masculine words	Plural feminine words
EXAMPLES	Questi ragazzi, questi orologi	Quelle vecchiette, quelle scarpe

THOSE: QUEGLI, QUEI, QUELLE

The Italian demonstratives meaning “those” are three:

Quei
Quegli
Quelle

We use them to talk about things far from the speaker in terms of time and place.

How do you choose between them? We use:

	quei	QUEgli	quelle
USED WITH	Plural masculine words	Plural masculine words starting with: a vowel, s+consonant, gn, pn, ps, x, y, z	Plural feminine words
EXAMPLES	Quei giorni, quei ragazzi	Quegli amici, quegli zaini	Quelle penne, quelle storie

View more phrases

italian	english
Guarda quelle nuvole!	Look at those clouds!
Quanto costano quegli stivali?	How much are those boots?
Cosa fanno quei bambini?	What are those kids doing?

In all the cases seen above, demonstratives are used as adjectives, and thus are always referred to and followed by a noun (although there may be other adjectives in between, e.g., “questo piccolo grande amore”).

Demonstratives, however, can also be used as pronouns. Find out more in the next section.

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

A demonstrative pronoun is a word used to stand in for a noun. They are used to point to something or someone specific, which is normally mentioned before or understandable by the context.

The Italian demonstrative pronouns are:

italian demonstrative pronouns
Questo
Questa
Quello
Quella
Questi
Queste
Quelli
Quelle

They substitute a noun, so they’re not followed by one.

Questo è mio, quello è tuo.

_{This one is mine, that one is yours.}

Queste sono meglio di quelle.

_{These are better than those.}

Cosa sono quelli?

_{What are those?}

	questo	QUEsta	queste	questi
THEY SUBSTITUTE	Singular masculine words referring to something near	Singular feminine words referring to something near	Plural feminine words referring to something near	Plural masculine words referring to something near

	quello	QUElla	quelle	quelli
THEY SUBSTITUTE	Singular masculine words referring to something far	Singular feminine words referring to something far	Plural feminine words referring to something far	Plural masculine words referring to something far

Pay attention, in particular, to “quelli“: this word is only used as a pronoun, not as an adjective. Vice versa, “quei” and “quegli” are adjectives, therefore should never be used by themselves, they always need a noun.

Sometimes, quello, quella, quelli, and quelle are followed by an adjective or specification to distinguish the object they substitute from another one.

👇🏼 Look at the example and the translation, and it will all be clear:

Quello biondo è Giovanni, quello moro è Luca.	The blond one is John, the dark one is Luke.
Ti piacciono di più quelle di pelle o quelle di tela?	Do you like the leather ones or the fabric ones better?
Quella rossa è mia, quella blu è di Sofia.	The red one is mine, the blue one is Sofia’s.

In the spoken language, to add emphasis, questo, questa, questi, and queste are often followed by “qui” or “qua“, meaning “here”; while quello, quella, quelle, and quelli are often followed by “lì” or “là“, meaning “there”.

PATTERN

QUESTO/A/I + QUI/QUA

PATTERN

QUELLO/A/E + LÌ/LÀ

Questi qui sono nuovi.

_{These ones here are new.}

Quello là è mio fratello.

_{That one there is my brother.}

The best way to learn demonstratives is using them, hearing them, and reading them.
They are everywhere: keep on practicing and they will have no more secrets!

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FAQs

What are Italian demonstratives and how are they used?

Demonstratives in Italian are words that identify objects, people, points in space, and moments in time. They can function as adjectives or pronouns, indicating proximity or distance from the speaker.

How do you choose between “questo,” “questa,” and “quest'”?

The choice depends on the gender and starting letter of the word. “Questo” is for masculine, “questa” for feminine, and “quest'” for masculine and feminine words starting with a vowel.

What does “‘sto” mean?

‘Sto, ‘sti, ‘sta, ‘ste are slang forms of the adjectives questo, questi, questa and queste: they’re only used in very informal settings: on the internet, the apostrophe is usually omitted.

How do Italian demonstratives work as adjectives?

Italian demonstratives work as adjectives when placed before a noun. They vary based on the gender and number of the words they refer to, similar to articles.

What are Italian demonstrative pronouns and how are they used?

Demonstrative pronouns in Italian, such as “questo,” “questa,” “quello,” etc., replace nouns and stand alone. They are used to point to something specific mentioned earlier or understood from context.

What does “questo qui” mean?

In spoken Italian, demonstratives like “questo” and “questa” may be followed by “qui” or “qua” (meaning “here”) for emphasis, while “quello” and “quella” may be followed by “lì” or “là” (meaning “there”).

Italian Grammar Bank