Italian grammar: Indefinite adjectives in Italian

Indefinite adjectives (Aggettivi Indefiniti) in Italian

Improve your Italian with our online courses: Free lessons, standard groups or private lessons.

Indefinite adjectives, in Italian, indicate an uncertain quantity or an uncertain quality of the concept expressed by the noun to which they relate.

Examples:
Molte persone amano lo sport (Many people love sport).
Mi va bene qualunque cosa (Everything is good for me).

In the first example we don't know the exact number of people who love sport, while, in the second one, we don't know what type of thing we are talking about.

In Italian, like in other languages, there are many indefinite adjectives.

Here is a list of the most common ones with the grammar rules they follow to agree with the noun they describe:

Singular		Plural
Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
Poco (a little, little, a few)	Poca	Pochi	Poche
Diverso (several)	Diversa	Diversi	Diverse
Vario (various)	Varia	Vari	Varie
Altro (Other)	Altra	Altri	Altre
Parecchio (quite a lot of)	Parecchia	Parecchi	Parecchie
Tanto (So much, so many)	Tanta	Tanti	Tante
Altrettanto (As much, as many)	Altrettanta	Altrettanti	Altrettante
Molto (Very)	Molta	Molti	Molte
Troppo (Too much, too many)	Troppa	Troppi	Troppa
Tutto + article (All)	Tutta	Tutti	Tutte
Certo (Certain)	Certa	Certi	Certe
Tale (Such a)		Tali
Ogni (Each, every)
Qualsiasi / Qualunque / Qualsivoglia (Any)
Qualche (Some)

Finally, there are a few indefinite adjectives which agree with the noun they are related to, according to the following grammar rules:

Singular	Gender
Nessuno (No, not any) Alcuno (Any) Ciascuno (Each, every)	Masculine Before noun beginning with: s + consonant, z, gn, ps, pn, x, i or y + another vowel.
Nessun Alcun Ciascun	Masculine Before all masculine nouns that do not require "Nessuno" / "Alcuno" / "Ciascuno"
Nessuna Alcuna Ciascuna	Feminine: Before all feminine nouns

While nessuno and ciascuno have only a singular form, alcuno has also the plural:

Plural	Gender
Alcuni	Masculine
Alcune	Feminine

Examples:
Ho letto pochi libri quest'anno (I have read a few books this year).
Ho letto diversi libri quest'anno (I have read several books this year).
Anna ha varie cose da dire (Anna has various things to say).
Gradisci un'altra fetta di torta? (Would you like another slice of cake?).
Paolo e Luca hanno parecchi amici (Paolo and Luca have quite a lot of friends).
Paolo e Luca hanno molti amici (Paolo and Luca have many friends).
Ho troppe cose da fare domani (I have too many things to do tomorrow).
Abbiamo tutto il tempo che vuoi (We have all the time you want).
Certi giorni vado a lavorare in bicicletta (Some days I go to work by bicycle).
Ogni bambino dovrebbe andare a scuola (Every child should go to school).
Tali assurdità capitano solo qui (Such absurdities happen only here).
I marinai hanno una fidanzata in ogni porto (Sailors have a girlfriend in every port).
Sono disposto a fare qualsiasi cosa (I'm willing do to anything).
C'è qualche cosa di strano (There is something strange).
Mario non ha nessun amico (Mario does not have any friends).
Alcune sedie sono rotte (Some chairs are broken).
Ciascuno studente deve fare un compito diverso (Every student must do a different homework).

Do not hesitate to contact us for any question about this article.

Tags: Italian, adjectives, indefinite, grammar, free, online, learn, tutor