Demonstrative Pronouns

This one and that in Italian
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Pronomi dimostrativi

Demonstrative pronouns replace a specific noun that was mentioned previously. In Italian, they must agree with the noun(s) in number and gender.

Per esempio…

Le montagne asiatiche sono più alte di quelle europee.   Asia’s mountains are taller than the ones in Europe.
Quell’albero è carino, ma questo offre più ombra.   That tree is cute, but this one offers more shade.

Characteristics of demonstrative pronouns

  1. Replace a demonstrative adjective + noun
  2. Agree with the noun they replace in gender and number
  3. Require an antecedent

Italian demonstrative pronouns

The eight Italian demonstrative pronouns can be divided into two groups: "near demonstratives" and "far demonstratives."

1) This one / These (near demonstratives)

"This one" and "these" each have two Italian equivalents:

    this one   these
masculine   questo   questi
feminine   questa   queste

 Note that they follow the same gender and number pattern as regular nouns and adjectives.

Per esempio…

Mi piace questa.   I like this one.
Voglio questi.   I want these.

2) That one / Those (far demonstratives)

Likewise, the Italian equivalents of "that one" and "those" also have two forms each.

  that one   those
masculine   quello   quelli
feminine   quella   quelle

Per esempio…

Mi piace quella.   I like that one.
Voglio quelli.   I want those.

 Related lessons

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Italian demonstrative pronouns

Virtual Italian Teacher at Lawless Languages | Website | + posts

Ciao! I’m Laura K Lawless, creator, writer, editor, and CLO (Chief Lawless Officer) of this free online Italian learning site. Lawless Italian is an official Lawless Languages site.

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