A1 · Fine points and style
Quantity words: molto, troppo
« Very » and « many » are one word here, and it changes shape for only one of the two jobs.
At a glance
- Remember
- It agrees only when a noun comes next.
- Form
- molti librimany books
- Signal words
- molto
- molti
- troppo
- poco
- tanto
- Trap
- Wrong:Le tue foto sono molte belle.Right:Le tue foto sono molto belle.
Your turn
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The form
The forms and what they mean
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Italian.
| many books | molti libri |
| a lot of water | molta acqua |
| very beautiful | molto bello |
| very beautiful, plural | molto belle |
| too many people | troppe persone |
| he works a lot | lavora molto |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
Before a noun, molto agrees.
Ci sono molte macchine in centro.There are a lot of cars in the centre.
Before an adjective it does not change.
Queste scarpe sono molto care.These shoes are very expensive.
After a verb it does not change either.
I bambini dormono molto.The children sleep a lot.
In the plural poco becomes pochi and poche.
Ho poche idee e pochi soldi.I have few ideas and little money.
Example sentences
Grazie mille, sei molto gentile.Thank you very much, that is very kind of you.
Ci sono troppi turisti in agosto.There are too many tourists in August.
Abbiamo poco tempo.We have little time.
Le tue foto sono molto belle.Your photos are very good.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English keeps « very » and « many » apart as two words, and only one of them has a plural, so the choice is made before the ending is. Italian merges them into one word and then sorts the behaviour by what stands after it — which means the word gives you no warning. Seeing molte persone makes molte belle feel right, and it is not: there molto means « very » and describes the adjective, not the photographs.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Before a noun these are adjectives and they agree: molti libri, molta acqua, troppe persone, pochi soldi. English uses « many » or « much » here and picks between them by whether the noun can be counted; Italian does not ask that question at all, it asks about gender and number instead.
Before an adjective or an adverb they are adverbs and do not change: molto bello, molto belle, troppo caro, troppo care. This is the slot where English says « very », and the word is the same one as before — which is exactly what makes the ending come out wrong.
After a verb they are unchanged too: Lavora molto, Mangi troppo. English swaps in a third expression here, « a lot », and Italian carries on with the same word.
The simplest test: is there a noun immediately after it? Then it agrees. Anything else after it, and it does not.
tanto means « so much » and behaves the same way. So does poco — and in the plural it takes an h: pochi, poche, because the c has to stay hard.
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