Italian grammar
This, that, these, those
Questo means "this" and quello means "that". Both change to match the noun, and quello changes its ending the same way the article "the" does.
Italian has two pointing words: questo (this) for something close to you, and quello (that) for something farther away. Both change to match the gender and number of the noun they point at. They are handy for a new speaker: you can point at something and talk about it even if you don’t know its name.
Questo: This, These
Questo works like any adjective ending in -o.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | questo | questi |
| Feminine | questa | queste |
- questo libro - this book
- questa casa - this house
- questi giorni - these days
- queste cose - these things
Before a singular noun that starts with a vowel, questo and questa usually drop their last letter: quest’anno (this year), quest’idea (this idea). The plural never shortens: questi anni, queste idee.
Quello: That, Those
Before a noun, quello changes its ending to match the article that noun would take. If you know whether a word takes il, lo or l', you know which "that" to use.
| Article | That / Those | Example |
|---|---|---|
| il / i | quel / quei | quel ragazzo, quei ragazzi - that boy, those boys |
| lo / gli | quello / quegli | quello zio, quegli zii - that uncle, those uncles |
| l' / gli | quell' / quegli | quell’uomo, quegli uomini - that man, those men |
| la / le | quella / quelle | quella donna, quelle donne - that woman, those women |
| l' / le (feminine) | quell' / quelle | quell’idea, quelle idee - that idea, those ideas |
So it’s quello spazio (that space), quel giorno (that day) and quell’anno (that year).
Without a Noun
You can drop the noun when it’s clear what you mean. Then the word still matches the noun you have in mind, but it uses only the full forms: questo, questa, questi, queste and quello, quella, quelli, quelle.
- Voglio questo. - I want this one (il libro).
- Preferisco quella. - I prefer that one (la macchina).
- Quali scarpe? Quelle. - Which shoes? Those.
The short forms quel, quei and quegli only go before a noun. Without a noun, "those" is quelli: Questi libri sono miei, quelli sono tuoi. - These books are mine, those are yours.
Talking About Ideas
To talk about a situation or something you can’t name, use the masculine singular questo or quello.
- Che cos’è questo? - What is this?
- Questo è vero. - This is true.
- Non ho detto quello. - I didn’t say that.
- È quello che penso. - That’s what I think.
The last example is very common: quello che means "what" in the sense of "the thing that".
Questo or Quello?
The choice follows the same idea as "this" and "that" in English, and it lines up with "here" and "there": questo goes with qui or qua, and quello goes with lì or là.
- Questa macchina qui è mia. - This car here is mine.
- Quella casa là è di mio fratello. - That house over there is my brother’s.
Remember that the demonstrative matches the noun, not the speaker. Anyone says questa mano (this hand), because mano is feminine, and quel problema (that problem), because problema is masculine.