A2 · The pronouns
This and that
Two distances, as in English — but quello reshapes itself.
Questo is here, quello is there. Two distances, exactly as in English — this and that — and unlike Spanish and Portuguese, which have three. So the concept costs nothing.
Questo has four forms: questo, questa, questi, queste. Before a vowel it is often shortened: quest'anno, quest'estate.
Quello is the one worth the effort, because it follows the definite article: quel libro like il libro, quello studente like lo studente, quell'amico like l'amico, quegli studenti like gli studenti. Anybody who has the article has this for nothing.
That is the whole of the new work here, and it is worth naming what makes it strange to an English speaker: English demonstratives change for number and for nothing else. This and that never react to the word after them. Here one of them behaves like an article and reshapes itself according to the following sound.
With no noun behind it, quello stays whole: quale vuoi? — quello. And ciò is the word for a thing with no gender: ciò che dici — what you say.
Die Form
| this book | questo libro |
| this year | quest’anno |
| that book | quel libro |
| that student | quello studente |
| those friends | quegli amici |
| what you say | ciò che dici |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
questo is here, quello is there.
Questo è il mio posto, quello è il tuo.This is my seat, that one is yours.
quello follows the definite article.
Quello studente parla tre lingue.That student speaks three languages.
Before a vowel questo is shortened.
Quest’estate andiamo in Sicilia.This summer we are going to Sicily.
With no noun, quello stays whole.
Quale preferisci? Quello.Which do you prefer? That one.
Woran man es erkennt
- questo
- quello
- quel
- quegli
- ciò
Beispielsätze
Questa maglia è più economica di quella.This jumper is cheaper than that one.
Quel giorno non ho lavorato.That day I did not work.
Chi è quel signore vicino alla porta?Who is that gentleman by the door?
Non ho capito ciò che hai detto.I did not understand what you said.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
Quello in front of a noun shortens like the article: quel libro and not quello libro. The full form appears only before s plus a consonant, and before z, gn, ps — exactly where lo stands. English gives no warning at all, since that is invariable in front of anything.
quello goes wherever the article goes.
Jetzt selbst
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