Regular and Irregular Forms

Regular Forms
The Italian adjective bello means beautiful.
Whenever bello is not directly before the noun, it
behaves like any other adjective, with regular
masculine, feminine, singular and plural forms:

Singluar:
Il lago bello.
La fontana bella.

masculine singular
feminine singular

Plural:
Gli alberi sono belli.
Le fontane sono belle.

masculine plural
feminine plural

Bello, bella,
belli, belle...
Those are
just regular
endings.

Yeah, so its
regular. So whats
the big deal?

Its regular sometimes.

And sometimes its irregular.

When the
adjective bello
occurs directly
before the noun
it modifies, it has
irregular forms.

What do
you mean,
irregular?

When bello is not

directly before the noun,
its regular:
Gli alberi sono belli.
But
When bello occurs
directly before the noun
it modifies, it has the
irregular form:
I begli alberi.

The irregular forms of bello, singular

Masculine

bel

before most masculine nouns

bello

before masculine nouns beginning

with z or s+consonant

bell

before masculine nouns beginning

with a vowel

Feminine

bella

before most feminine nouns

bell

before feminine nouns beginning

with a vowel

Pratica le forme irregolare:

In the examples below, the word bello is directly before the
noun and so it has irregular forms:

1. a beautiful lake

bel
un ________
lago

2. a beautiful city

bella
una _________
citt

3. a beautiful clock

un ________
orologio
bell

4. a beautiful stadium

bello stadio
un ________

5. a beautiful house

bella
una ________
casa

6. a beautiful book

bel
un ________
libro

7. a beautiful bookbag

bello
un _________
zaino

8. a beautiful classroom

bell
una _________
aula

So that was
the singular.
But I guess
there are
plural forms
too.

Why, yes.
There are.

So
Are you
going to tell
me what
they are,
or not?

Well, since
you asked...

The irregular forms of bello, plural

Masculine

bei

before most masculine plural nouns

begli

before masculine plural nouns

beginning with a z, an
s+consonant or a vowel

Feminine

belle

before all feminine plural nouns,

regardless of the first letter

Pratica le forme irregolare:

In the examples below, the word bello is directly before the
noun and so it has irregular forms:

1. beautiful lakes

bei
________
laghi

2. beautiful cities

belle
_________
citt

3. beautiful clocks

begli
________
orologi

4. beautiful stadiums

begli
________
stadi

5. beautiful houses

________
case
belle

6. beautiful books

bei
________
libri

7. beautiful bookbags

begli
_________
zaini

8. beautiful classrooms

_________
aule
belle

But thats so
many irregular
forms! How will
I remember
them all?

Irregular forms usually just have to be memorized.

But this is like something youve seen before.
The irregular forms of bello are similar to the forms of the
definite article the. Remember those?
Masculine singular: il, lo, l
Feminine singular: la, l

Masculine plural: i, gli

Feminine plural: le

You remember them, dont you?

Mumble.

Anyway, bello is not always irregular

The adjective bello is sometimes regular and

sometimes irregular, depending on its placement!

When it is not directly before a noun, it is

regular and has the regular forms bello, bella,
belli and belle.

When it is directly before a

noun, it is irregular and has the
forms bel, bello, bella, bell,
bei, begli and belle.

So, it
depends?

Yes, it depends
on placement.
Regular or irregular?
Il bel bambino
but
Il bambino bello.

I bei laghi
but
I laghi sono belli.

Io compro una

bella

macchina.

Irregular:

Regular:
bello
bella
belli
belle

bel
bello
bell
bella
bei
begli
belle

Frequentiamo una

bell

universit.

Irregular:

Regular:
bello
bella
belli
belle

bel
bello
bell
bella
bei
begli
belle

L universit molto

bella

Irregular:

Regular:
bello
bella
belli
belle

bel
bello
bell
bella
bei
begli
belle

Il bambino ha

begli

occhi blu.

Irregular:

Regular:
bello
bella
belli
belle

bel
bello
bell
bella
bei
begli
belle

LItalia un

bel

paese.

Irregular:

Regular:
bello
bella
belli
belle

bel
bello
bell
bella
bei
begli
belle

Il paese

bello

Irregular:

Regular:
bello
bella
belli
belle

bel
bello
bell
bella
bei
begli
belle

Abbiamo molti

bei

fiori nel giardino.

Irregular:

Regular:
bello
bella
belli
belle

bel
bello
bell
bella
bei
begli
belle

I fiori sono

belli

Irregular:

Regular:
bello
bella
belli
belle

bel
bello
bell
bella
bei
begli
belle

This is TORTA.
Give me
something more
difficult.

Leggete:
Abitiamo in una citt. Al centro della citt,
c una piazza. Nella piazza, ci sono due
fontane. Nella piazza, c anche un

palazzo, e davanti al palazzo c un

orologio grande. Ci sono due alberi e molti

fiori nella piazza. Non lontano dalla piazza

c uno stadio.

Modify using bello:

Abitiamo in una ________
bella
citt. Al centro
bella
della citt, c una ________
piazza. Nella
belle
piazza, ci sono due _________
fontane. Nella
bel
piazza, c anche un _________
palazzo, e
bell
davanti al palazzo c un ________
orologio

grande. Ci sono due _________

begli
alberi e
bei
molti ________
fiori nella piazza. Non
bello
lontano dalla piazza c un ________
stadio.

Review: The Regular Forms of bello

Masculine Singular:

bello

Masculine Plural:

belli

Feminine Singular:

bella

Feminine Plural:

belle

And regular forms

are used
When bello
is not directly
before the
noun.

Review: The Irregular Forms of bello

Masculine Singular
before most masculine nouns
before masculine nouns beginning with z or s+consonant
before masculine nouns beginning with a vowel

bel
bello
bell

Feminine Singular
before most feminine nouns
before feminine nouns beginning with a vowel

bella
bell

Masculine Plural
before most masculine nouns
before masculine nouns beginning with z, s+consonant,
or a vowel

bei

Feminine Plural
before all feminine nouns

belle

begli

And the irregular

forms are used

Pick me!
Pick me!

When bello
is directly
before the
noun.