{"id":17253,"date":"2018-10-18T21:38:45","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T19:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=17253"},"modified":"2018-10-27T21:19:19","modified_gmt":"2018-10-27T19:19:19","slug":"describing-peoples-character-in-italian-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/describing-peoples-character-in-italian-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Describing People’s Character In Italian – Part 2."},"content":{"rendered":"

In Describing People’s Character In Italian – Part 1.<\/a><\/span><\/strong> we looked at some important adjectives that also happen to be ‘false friends’, and a few others that have very straightforward translations. Let’s move on to common adjectives that don’t have an obvious meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n

We’ll divide these attributes into three categories: positive, neutral, and negative.<\/p>\n

1. adjectives which describe positive personal characteristics:<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

affidabile\/i<\/strong> = trustworthy – la Jessica mi sembra una persona affidabile<\/strong> = Jessica seems to be a trustworthy person
\nallegro\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = happy – \u00e8 un tipo allegro<\/strong> = he\/she is a happy sort
\naltruista\/i\/e<\/strong> (n.b. doesn’t change for the masculine singular) = unselfish – \u00e8 un gruppo di persone altruiste<\/strong> = they’re an unselfish group of people
\nbravo\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = clever\/good at something – i musicisti erano molto bravi<\/strong> = the musicians were very good
\nbuono\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = good – \u00e8 una buona persona<\/strong> = he\/she is a good person
\nbuffo\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = funny (comical) – Claudio \u00e8 molto buffo<\/strong> = Claudio is really funny
\ncoraggioso\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = brave\/courageous – la figlia di Enzo \u00e8 coraggiosa<\/strong> = Enzo’s daughter is brave
\ndeciso\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = resolute\/single minded – per questo lavoro ci vuole una persona decisa<\/strong> = you need a very single minded person for this job
\ndolce\/i<\/strong> = sweet – \u00e8 dolce la fidanzata di Andrea<\/strong> = Andreas’ fianc\u00e9e is sweet
\nfelice\/i<\/strong> = happy\/joyful – suo nonno era un tipo felice<\/strong> = his grandad was a happy type
\nsolare\/i<\/strong> = cheerful\/of sunny disposition – Daniela \u00e8 una ragazza solare<\/strong> = Daniela is a sunshine girl
\nspiritoso\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = humorous\/witty – la cameriera era davvero spiritosa<\/strong> = the waitress was really witty<\/p>\n

Remember: these positive qualities can be transformed into negatives by the addition of non \u00e8<\/strong> or non sono<\/strong>, e.g.: Giorgio non \u00e8 un tipo affidabile <\/strong>= Giorgio isn’t an trustworthy type, or questi ragazzi non sono molto coraggiosi<\/strong> = these lads aren’t very brave<\/p>\n

2. adjectives which describe neutral personal characteristics (depending on context):<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

indeciso\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = indecisive – Mario \u00e8 un ragazzo indeciso<\/strong> = Mario is an indecisive bloke
\nloquace\/i<\/strong> = talkative – dicono che sono un tipo loquace<\/strong> = they say that I’m a talkative type
\nordinato\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = tidy – Giorgio e Amelia sono tutti e due persone ordinate<\/strong> = Giorgio and Amelia are both tidy people
\npauroso\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = fearful – \u00e8 sempre stato una persona paurosa<\/strong> = he\/she has always been a fearful person
\nserio\/a\/i\/e <\/strong>= serious\/reliable\/professional – i Carabinieri sono ragazzi seri<\/strong> = the Carabinieri are professionals
\ntaciturno\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = silent\/quiet\/uncommunicative = l’autista era un tipo taciturno<\/strong> = the driver was a silent type
\ntimido\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = shy\/timid – Smokie \u00e8 il nostro gatto pi\u00f9 timido<\/strong> = Smokie is our most timid cat
\ntosto\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = tough – Maurizio \u00e8 un ragazzo tosto<\/strong> = Maurizio is a tough lad
\ntriste\/i<\/strong> – sad (as in unhappy) – mi fa pena, \u00e8 una persona triste<\/strong> = I’m sorry for him\/her, he\/she’s a sad person<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Smokie in the washing basin with his special ‘pillow’, Mr. Black!<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

3. adjectives which describe negative personal characteristics<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

amaro\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = bitter – suo zio era una persona molto amara<\/strong> = his\/her uncle was a very bitter person
\navaro\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = tight\/stingy – la zia Prudenza \u00e8 molto avara<\/strong> = aunt Prudence is very stingy
\nbugiardo\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = liar – chi, lui? \u00e8 un gran bugiardo!<\/strong> = who, him? he’s a big liar!
\ncattivo\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = bad – sono ragazze cattive quelle due<\/strong> = those two are bad girls
\ndisordinato\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = messy\/disordered\/untidy – Marco \u00e8 cos\u00ec disordinato<\/strong> = Marco is so untidy
\negoista\/i\/e<\/strong> = selfish\u00a0(n.b. doesn’t change for the masculine singular) – com’\u00e8 egoista tuo padre!<\/strong> = how selfish your father is!
\nimbranato\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = bumbling\/goofy – ecco quella imbranata di Giulia!<\/strong> = here’s that goofy Giulia!
\nnoioso\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = boring – \u00e8 davvero una persona noiosa da morire<\/strong> = he\/she’s really a very boring person
\npignolo\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = finicky\/fussy – il mio capo \u00e8 cos\u00ec pignolo!<\/strong> = my boss is so finicky!
\npigro\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = lazy – Luca \u00e8 sempre stato pigro<\/strong> = Luca has always been lazy
\ntestone\/i\/e<\/strong> = stubborn – Davide \u00e8 un testone da morire!<\/strong> = Davide is really stubborn!
\nvanitoso\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = vain – Lucia \u00e8 un tipo vanitoso, sta sempre a fare i selfie<\/strong> = Lucia is a vain type, she’s always taking selfies
\nvigliacco\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = coward – sono delle vigliacche!<\/strong> = they’re cowards!<\/p>\n

Special Bonus: a few strong adjectives which we frequently use to describe particularly unpleasant people<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

coglione\/i<\/strong> = idiot – ecco quel coglione di Adriano!<\/strong> = here’s that idiot Adriano!
\nstronzo\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> = turd – sei proprio uno stronzo!<\/strong> = you’re a real turd!
\ntesta di cazzo<\/strong> = dick head – Matteo \u00e8 una testa di cazzo!<\/strong> = Matteo is a dick head!<\/p>\n

Note the idiosyncratic but correct use of di<\/strong><\/em> in the following examples: ecco quella imbranata di<\/em> Giulia!<\/strong>; ecco quel coglione di<\/em> Adriano!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now study study study, because they’ll be an exercise based on these two articles arriving shortly!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

In Describing People’s Character In Italian – Part 1. we looked at some important adjectives that also happen to be ‘false friends’, and a few others that have very straightforward translations. Let’s move on to common adjectives that don’t have an obvious meaning. We’ll divide these attributes into three categories: positive, neutral, and negative. affidabile\/i…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":17302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[58887,385868],"class_list":["post-17253","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-italian-adjectives","tag-italian-descriptive-vocabulary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17253"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17334,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17253\/revisions\/17334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}