Bello means beautiful and has many forms: bello, bella, bel, bei… But when do you use which form? Let’s learn the Italian adjective bello together!
The adjective BELLO
First, there is an important distinction:
When bello is AFTER the noun, e.g. il cane è bello the dog is beautiful, behaves like a normal adjective:
| SINGULAR | PLURAL | |
| Masculine | Il cane è bello | I cani sono belli |
| Feminine | La casa è bella | Le case sono belle |
If bello is BEFORE the noun, e.g. il bel canethe beautiful dog, its form changes depending on the first letter of the following noun. Here, the adjective bello behaves the same way as the definite article (il, lo, l’, la, i, gli, le). Look at the tables below:
Masculine
| SINGULAR | PLURAL | |
| before consonant | bel cane (il cane) | bei cani (i cani) |
| before x, y, z, gn, ps, s+consonant | bello zaino (lo zaino) | begli zaini (gli zaini) |
| before vowel | bell’albero (l’albero) | begli alberi (gli alberi) |
Feminine
| SINGULAR | PLURAL | |
| before consonant | bella stella (la stella) | belle stelle (le stelle) |
| before vowel | bell’isola (l’isola) | belle isole (le isole) |
Esempi
| In cucina c’è un bel frigorifero. | There is a nice refrigerator in the kitchen. |
| In camera ci sono dei begli armadi. | There are nice closets in the room. |
| Ma che bei quadri che hai! | What beautiful paintings you have! |
| In giardino ci sono delle belle piante. | In the garden there are beautiful plants. |
Before or after?
Unlike most Italian adjectives, bello comes BEFORE the noun:
| Hai un bel giardino. | You have a beautiful garden. |
Bello can also come after the noun, especially in combination with molto very, davvero/proprio really/truly or similar adverbs, and of course after the verb essere.
| Hai un giardino davvero bello. | You have a really beautiful garden. |
| Il tuo giardino è bello! | Your garden is beautiful! |
The adjective bellissimo (= molto bello, very beautiful) can precede as well as follow the noun. If you have other adjectives, you can put bello both before and after the noun.
| Hai un giardino bellissimo. Hai un bellissimo giardino. | You have a very beautiful garden. |
| Hai un giardino bello ed elegante. Hai un bel giardino elegante. | You have a beautiful, elegant garden. |
1. Romeo, you are really a beautiful kitty! What beautiful eyes! What a beautiful tail!
2. And what a beautiful soft fur you have! What beautiful whiskers! What beautiful paws!
3. Ok, now come on, get in the transport box. We have an appointment with the vet. – Romeo: Aha.
One thought on “The adjective BELLO”
This is very helpful course and worth a lot .
Thank you so much