Word formation in Italian: prefixes and suffixes
A vocabulary grows in two ways. One is learning new words — that is the slow one. The other is the 31 building blocks on this page: with one word and a few of them, you have a whole family.
The suffixes matter more than the prefixes, for a reason you rarely read: they tell you the part of speech. With them you can place an unknown word in its sentence before you know what it means.
Prefixes that negate
Three prefixes for the same job — and one that undoes.
| Building block | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| in- | makes the opposite; in-, un- | incapace, inutile, incerto, infelice |
| It changes with the next letter exactly as it does in English: im- before b and p (impossibile), and a doubled consonant before l and r (illegale, irreale). Where English says «un-», Italian often says in-: infelice is «unhappy», incerto «uncertain». | ||
| s- | reverses or negates; un-, dis- | sfortuna, scomodo, sconosciuto, sleale |
| The most Italian of the three, with no English counterpart: fortuna becomes sfortuna, «bad luck», and fare becomes sfare, «to undo». Because the word now begins with s and a consonant, it takes lo and uno: uno sconosciuto, «a stranger». | ||
| dis- | undoes, takes apart; dis-, un- | disfare, disonesto, disordine, disattento |
| Sometimes the English «dis-» (disonesto, «dishonest»; disordine, «disorder»), but just as often «un-»: disfare is «to undo» and, with a suitcase, «to unpack». | ||
| a- | without, free of; a- | apolitico, atipico, anormale, asimmetrico |
| From Greek, and as in English mostly found in learned and technical words: apolitico, atipico, asimmetrico. One does not match: anormale is «abnormal». | ||
Prefixes that add something
Again, before, over, under, beyond measure, together, across.
| Building block | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| ri- | again; re- | rifare, rivedere, ripetere, rileggere |
| The English «re-», but it goes on far more verbs: where English has to add «again» or «back», Italian just puts ri- in front — richiamare is «to call back». Rivedere is both «to see again» and «to revise». | ||
| pre- | before, in advance; pre- | prevedere, preavviso, prenotare, premettere |
| Prenotare is the everyday word for «to book» or «to reserve» — a table, a room, a seat on a train. Prevedere is «to foresee» or «to forecast», and a weather forecast is le previsioni del tempo. | ||
| sopra- | above, more than needed; over- | soprattutto, sopravvivere, soprannome, sopravvalutare |
| It doubles the consonant that follows: soprattutto, sopravvivere, soprannome. English says «over-» (sopravvalutare, «to overrate») or the French «sur-» (sopravvivere, «to survive»). A soprannome is a «nickname», not a surname — that is cognome. | ||
| sotto- | below, too little; under-, sub- | sottoterra, sottovalutare, sottotitolo, sottopassaggio |
| Where English uses «under-» or the Latin «sub-», Italian uses sotto- for both: sottovalutare is «to underestimate», sottotitolo «subtitle», sottopassaggio «underpass». | ||
| stra- | beyond measure; super- | stracarico, strapieno, straricco, stravedere |
| Colloquial and very much alive: it goes on almost any adjective, much as English puts «super-» or «dead» in front of one. Straricco is «loaded», stracarico «crammed full». | ||
| con- | together with; co-, con- | convivere, concittadino, collaborare, coinquilino |
| It behaves like the English prefix: col- before l (collaborare), often co- before a vowel (coinquilino, «flatmate»). A concittadino is a «fellow citizen». | ||
| tra- | across, through; trans- | tradurre, trasferire, trasmettere, traghetto |
| Where English writes «trans-», these everyday Italian words write tras- or tra-: trasferire, «to transfer»; trasmettere, «to transmit». And tradurre is «to translate». | ||
Suffixes that make nouns
A verb becomes a person, an action, a shop.
| Building block | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -tore | the person who does something; -er, -or | lavoratore, scrittore, pittore, venditore |
| The feminine is -trice: una scrittrice, un’attrice. Like English «-er» it also names machines: un ventilatore is «a fan». | ||
| -zione | the action or its result; -tion | produzione, stazione, attenzione, decisione |
| Always feminine, without exception. Many are simply the English word in Italian spelling — nazione, stazione — and where English writes «-ction», Italian writes -zione: azione, «action»; produzione, «production». | ||
| -mento | the process; -ment | movimento, pagamento, cambiamento, sentimento |
| Always masculine — the counterpart of -zione. It goes on more verbs than English «-ment»: cambiamento is simply «change». | ||
| -ista | someone who does something by trade or conviction; -ist | giornalista, artista, dentista, turista |
| Masculine and feminine are the same word; only the article tells them apart. In the plural they split: i giornalisti, le giornaliste. | ||
| -eria | the place where it is sold or made; -ery | panetteria, gelateria, libreria, macelleria |
| English has «-ery» in «bakery» and «brewery»; Italian uses it for a great many shops. The trap is libreria: a «bookshop», while a library is biblioteca. | ||
| -aio | the person who sells or makes it | fornaio, macellaio, libraio, giornalaio |
| The trade that goes with the shop in -eria: the macellaio works in the macelleria, the fornaio in the panetteria. A giornalaio sells newspapers and does not write them. | ||
| -ezza | turns an adjective into a noun; -ness | bellezza, altezza, tristezza, grandezza |
| Always feminine. English often has a word of its own here: bellezza is «beauty», altezza «height»; tristezza is «sadness». | ||
| -ità | turns an adjective into a noun; -ity | libertà, città, possibilità, qualità |
| The English «-ity», one syllable shorter and stressed on the last vowel: qualità, «quality»; città, «city». Because it ends in a stressed vowel it does not change in the plural: le possibilità. | ||
Suffixes that make adjectives
A noun becomes a quality.
| Building block | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -oso | full of something; -ous, -ful | famoso, pauroso, nervoso, silenzioso |
| The English «-ous», as in famoso and nervoso, but Italian also uses it where English says «-ful»: pauroso is «fearful», and also «frightening». | ||
| -ale | belonging to something; -al | nazionale, personale, normale, centrale |
| The English «-al» with an -e added: nazionale, personale, normale. Ending in -e, it has one form for both genders and -i in the plural. | ||
| -bile | which can be done; -able, -ible | possibile, visibile, mangiabile, lavabile |
| The counterpart of English «-able» and «-ible», and just as productive: lavabile, «washable»; visibile, «visible». Mangiabile is «edible» in the grudging sense: fit to eat, and not much more. | ||
| -evole | inclined to, having an effect | piacevole, notevole, ammirevole, colpevole |
| No English suffix matches it, though the result is often an English word in «-able»: notevole, «notable»; ammirevole, «admirable». Colpevole is «guilty». | ||
| -ivo | which brings something about; -ive | attivo, produttivo, sportivo, definitivo |
| The English «-ive», with a doubled consonant where English has two different ones: attivo, «active»; produttivo, «productive». Definitivo usually means «final», and sportivo is «sporty» or «to do with sport». | ||
| -ese | coming from a place; -ese | milanese, francese, genovese, portoghese |
| English has it in «Chinese» and «Portuguese»; Italian uses it for a great many towns: milanese, genovese. It ends in -e, so there are only two forms, milanese and milanesi, for both genders — and it takes no capital letter: francese. | ||
Suffixes that judge
Small, big, nasty, fond — where English needs a whole word, Italian needs an ending.
| Building block | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -ino/-ina | makes small or friendly | tavolino, momentino, problemino, caffettino |
| English does this with a separate word — «little», «a bit of a» — and Italian with an ending. It often shrinks not the thing but its importance: un problemino is a problem the speaker is playing down. Some have become words of their own: un tavolino is a coffee table or a café table. | ||
| -one/-ona | makes big | portone, librone, donnone, stradone |
| It often turns a feminine word masculine: la porta → il portone, the large street door of a building. Even un donnone, «a big, strapping woman», is masculine. | ||
| -accio/-accia | makes bad or disparaging | tempaccio, ragazzaccio, parolaccia, giornataccia |
| English needs an adjective — «nasty», «rotten», «awful» — where Italian changes the ending: una giornataccia is «an awful day». A parolaccia is «a swear word». | ||
| -uccio/-uccia | makes fond, or a little dismissive | caruccio, boccuccia, affaruccio, tesoruccio |
| Which of the two it is depends on the tone alone — nothing in the writing shows it. Tesoruccio is pure affection; caruccio can be «rather sweet» or, of a price, «a bit steep». | ||
| -etto/-etta | makes small and sweet | libretto, cucchiaietto, borsetta, casetta |
| English does the same with «-ette» in «kitchenette», but only on a handful of words; Italian on almost any noun. English has also borrowed one: libretto is literally «a little book». | ||
| -issimo/-issima | intensifies an adjective; very, really | bellissimo, buonissimo, gentilissimo, carissimo |
| Not a superlative: bellissimo means «really beautiful», not «the most beautiful» — that is il più bello. Carissimo is both «very dear», as at the top of a letter, and «very expensive». | ||