A2 · The adjectives
The superlative that compares nothing
It is your very, packed into a suffix.
Beside il più bello (the most beautiful) stands bellissimo, and it does not mean the most beautiful but gorgeous, stunning — with nobody standing next to it.
English does this job with a separate word: very, really, extremely. Italian does it with an ending, and the shift is worth naming because English suffixes point the other way. -est compares; -issimo does not. Everything an English speaker knows about adjective endings has to be set aside for this one.
It is formed by dropping the final vowel and adding -issimo: caro → carissimo, grande → grandissimo, facile → facilissimo. And it agrees like any other adjective: carissima, carissimi, carissime — which very never does.
The spelling rule of -care and -gare applies here too: ricco → ricchissimo, lungo → lunghissimo. The k sound needs its h.
Four adjectives have forms of their own, straight from Latin: buono → ottimo, cattivo → pessimo, grande → massimo, piccolo → minimo. English has all four as loanwords — optimum, pessimism, maximum, minimum — so the meanings come free even though the everyday use does not.
Die Form
| gorgeous | bello → bellissimo |
| very expensive | caro → carissimo |
| extremely rich | ricco → ricchissimo |
| excellent | buono → ottimo |
| dreadful | cattivo → pessimo |
| the most beautiful | il più bello |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
Drop the final vowel, add -issimo.
Il biglietto era carissimo.The ticket was very expensive.
It agrees like any adjective, which very never does.
Le case qui sono carissime.Houses here are very expensive.
The k sound keeps its h.
È stata una giornata lunghissima.It was an extremely long day.
The comparing superlative needs il più.
È il museo più antico della città.It is the oldest museum in the city.
Woran man es erkennt
- -issimo
- carissimo
- ottimo
- pessimo
- il più
Beispielsätze
La cena era ottima, grazie mille.The dinner was excellent, thank you very much.
Sono stanchissima, vado a letto presto.I am exhausted, I am going to bed early.
Il tempo è stato pessimo tutta la settimana.The weather was dreadful all week.
È il ristorante più economico del quartiere.It is the cheapest restaurant in the area.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
The two superlatives say different things and only one compares. È il più caro puts others beside it; è carissimo does not. Both together — il più carissimo — says the same thing twice and grades nothing. English has the same prohibition, and breaks it in the same way: most cheapest is exactly this mistake in the other language.
il più compares, -issimo intensifies.
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