In Italian, demonstratives (dimostrativi) are words used to point to a particular person, animal, or thing. They correspond to the English words this, that, these, and those. The two most common Italian demonstratives are questo (this) and quello (that). In general, questo refers to someone or something close to the speaker, while quello refers to someone or something farther away. Demonstratives can be used with a noun, as demonstrative adjectives, or they can replace a noun, as demonstrative pronouns. In both cases, their forms depend on gender and number.
Demonstrative Adjectives
Demonstrative adjectives (aggettivi dimostrativi) appear before a noun to identify a particular person or thing. The adjective questo follows the regular pattern of adjectives ending in -o: questo for masculine singular, questa for feminine singular, questi for masculine plural, and queste for feminine plural. These forms agree with the noun they describe. Before a vowel, the feminine singular questa is often shortened to quest', while the masculine singular generally keeps the full form questo.
questo libro — this book
questa casa — this house
questi ragazzi — these boys
queste ragazze — these girls
quest'amica — this female friend
The adjective quello also agrees with the noun, but its forms depend on the sound at the beginning of the following word. It follows the same pattern as the definite articles il, lo, la, l', i, gli, and le. For masculine singular nouns, quel is used before most consonants, quello before s followed by another consonant or z, and quell' before a vowel. In the masculine plural, the corresponding forms are quei and quegli. Feminine nouns use quella in the singular and quelle in the plural, with quell' before a vowel in the singular.
quel libro — that book
quello studente — that student
quell'amico — that friend
quegli studenti — those students
quell'amica — that female friend
quelle ragazze — those girls
Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns (pronomi dimostrativi) replace a noun that is already known or clear from the context. They can correspond to English expressions such as this one, that one, these, and those. The forms of questo remain the same whether the word is used as an adjective or a pronoun. However, when quello is used as a pronoun, it normally takes the full forms quello, quella, quelli, and quelle, without changing according to the first sound of a following noun. As with adjectives, the pronoun agrees in gender and number with the person or thing it refers to.
Questo è il mio libro. — This is my book.
Questa è la mia casa. — This is my house.
Quel libro è nuovo. Quello è vecchio. — That book is new. That one is old.
Quelli sono i miei amici. — Those are my friends.
Summary of Italian Demonstratives
| Gender and number | This / These | That / Those (adjective) | That / Those (pronoun) |
| Masculine singular | questo | quel, quello, quell' | quello |
| Feminine singular | questa | quella, quell' | quella |
| Masculine plural | questi | quei, quegli | quelli |
| Feminine plural | queste | quelle | quelle |