{"id":5083,"date":"2014-03-24T20:41:07","date_gmt":"2014-03-24T20:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=5083"},"modified":"2014-03-25T12:07:27","modified_gmt":"2014-03-25T12:07:27","slug":"a-big-brush-or-a-great-brush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/a-big-brush-or-a-great-brush\/","title":{"rendered":"A Big Brush … or a Great Brush?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Getting adjectives in the correct position in Italian is very important because in certain cases it can completely change the meaning of the sentence. A great example of this is the classic television advert for Boldrini\u2019s Cinghiale paint brushes.<\/p>\n

\"cinghiale<\/a><\/p>\n

Vigile: \u201cMa cosa fa con quell\u2019arnese? Ostacola il traffico!\u201d Imbianchino: "Devo dipingere una parete grande e ci vuole un pennello grande". Vigile: "Non ci vuole un pennello grande, ma un grande pennello: Cinghiale".<\/strong><\/p>\n

Traffic Policeman: \u201cWhat are you doing with that contraption? You\u2019re blocking the traffic!\u201d Decorator: \u201cI\u2019ve got to paint a big wall and I need a big brush\u201d. Traffic Policeman: \u201cYou don\u2019t need a big<\/u> brush, you need a great<\/u> brush: Cinghiale\u201d.<\/p>\n

As you can see from this example, by simply moving the position of the adjective grande<\/strong>, it takes on a different meaning. In the first instance: grande<\/strong> means \u2018big\u2019. However, when we put grande<\/strong> before pennello <\/strong>it takes on the meaning of \u2018great\u2019 as in \u2018very good quality\u2019. So, to clarify: pennello grande<\/strong> = big brush; grande pennello<\/strong> = very good quality brush.<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s look at some common examples of adjectives that change their meaning depending on their position in relation to the noun:<\/p>\n

the adjectives grande\/i<\/strong> (big), buono\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> (good), and povero\/a\/i\/e<\/strong> (poor) have a literal meaning when they follow the noun:
\u00c8 una donna grande<\/strong> = She is a big woman
\u00c8 un uomo buono<\/strong> = He is a good man
\u00c8 una donna povera<\/strong> = She is a poor woman (i.e. without money)<\/p>\n

However when these same adjectives precede the noun they take on a more metaphoric meaning:
\u00c8 una gran donna<\/strong> = She is a great woman (N.B. we drop the \u2018-de\u2019<\/strong> from grande<\/strong> for pronunciation reasons)
\u00c8 un buon uomo<\/strong> = He is a naive man
\u00c8 una povera donna<\/strong> = She is an unfortunate woman<\/p>\n

Here are a few more adjectives that change meaning according to their position:
Certo\/a\/i\/e: <\/strong>e.g. certe notizie<\/strong> sono sconvolgenti <\/strong>= certain pieces of news are upsetting, but non ci sono ancora notizie certe sull\u2019incidente<\/strong> = there\u2019s still no definite news about the accident  <\/p>\n

Diverso\/a\/i\/e: <\/strong>e.g il clima \u00e8 influenzato da diversi fattori <\/strong>= the weather is influenced by several factors, but il clima \u00e8 influenzato da fattori diversi<\/strong> = the weather is influenced by different factors<\/p>\n

Numeroso\/a\/i\/e: <\/strong>e.g. numerose famiglie sono rimaste senza elettricit\u00e0<\/strong> = many families have been left without electricity, but le<\/strong> famiglie numerose erano pi\u00f9 comuni nel passato<\/strong> = big families were more common in the past<\/p>\n

Semplice\/i: <\/strong>e.g. \u00e8 una semplice operazione<\/strong> = it\u2019s just an operation, but \u00e8 un\u2019operazione semplice<\/strong> = it\u2019s an easy operation <\/p>\n

Unico\/a\/i\/che: <\/strong>e.g. ho un\u2019unica foto del mio bisnonno materno<\/strong> = I\u2019ve only got one photo of my maternal great grandfather, but questa \u00e8 una foto unica del mio bisnonno materno<\/strong> = this is a unique photo of my maternal great grandfather<\/p>\n

Vecchio\/a\/i\/e: <\/strong>e.g. Maria \u00e8 una mia vecchia amica d\u2019infanzia<\/strong> = Maria is an old friend from my childhood, but Maria \u00e8 un\u2019amica vecchia<\/strong> = Maria is an elderly friend<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Getting adjectives in the correct position in Italian is very important because in certain cases it can completely change the meaning of the sentence. A great example of this is the classic television advert for Boldrini\u2019s Cinghiale paint brushes. Vigile: \u201cMa cosa fa con quell\u2019arnese? Ostacola il traffico!\u201d Imbianchino: "Devo dipingere una parete grande e…<\/p>\n

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