Questo contratto è legale.

Questo means this. It must agree with the noun it describes.

Since contratto is masculine singular, the correct form is questo:

• questo contratto = this contract

If the noun were feminine singular, you would use questa:

• questa legge = this law

Other common forms are:

• questi = these, masculine plural
• queste = these, feminine plural

Because questo already does the job of pointing to the noun, much like this in English.

So:

• il contratto = the contract
• questo contratto = this contract

In Italian, you normally do not say il questo contratto. The demonstrative and the article are not usually used together in this basic structure.

A very common clue is the ending. Many Italian nouns ending in -o are masculine singular, and contratto follows that pattern.

So:

• contratto = masculine singular
• plural: contratti

This is why you get:

• questo contratto
• questi contratti

Like most rules in Italian, there are exceptions, but -o = masculine singular is a very useful pattern.

The accent matters because è and e are different words.

• è = is
• e = and

So in this sentence:

• Questo contratto è legale = This contract is legal

Without the accent, e would mean and, which would be wrong here.

È is the third-person singular form of essere, which means to be.

The basic forms are:

• io sono = I am
• tu sei = you are
• lui/lei è = he/she is

Since questo contratto is singular, Italian uses è:

• Questo contratto è legale = This contract is legal

Because legale is acting as a predicate adjective after the verb essere.

The structure is:

• Questo contratto = subject
• è = is
• legale = legal

This is just like English:

• This contract is legal

Italian adjectives often come after nouns when they directly describe them, and after essere they naturally come after the verb:

• Il documento è importante
• La proposta è valida

Yes, adjectives in Italian agree with the noun in gender and number. Legale is one of those adjectives that has:

• singular: legale for both masculine and feminine
• plural: legali for both masculine and feminine

Examples:

• Questo contratto è legale = This contract is legal
• Questa procedura è legale = This procedure is legal
• Questi contratti sono legali = These contracts are legal
• Queste procedure sono legali = These procedures are legal

So the singular form stays legale, but the plural becomes legali.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

KWEH-stoh kon-TRAT-toh eh leh-GAH-leh

A few helpful notes:

• qu in questo sounds like kw
• tt in contratto is pronounced more strongly than a single t
• è is pronounced like eh
• stress falls on -trat- in contratto
• stress falls on -ga- in legale

Yes. In Italian, legale can mean:

1. legal / lawful

   • Questo contratto è legale = This contract is legal

2. legal in the sense of related to the law

   • assistenza legale = legal assistance
   • consulenza legale = legal advice

So context tells you whether it means lawful or simply connected with law.

Yes, but it means something slightly different in focus.

• Questo contratto è legale = This contract is legal
  You are talking about a specific contract and saying that it is lawful.

• Questo è un contratto legale = This is a legal contract
  You are identifying this as being a legal contract.

Both are correct, but the original sentence is the more direct way to say that the contract is legal.

The plural would be:

Questi contratti sono legali.

Changes:

• questo → questi
• contratto → contratti
• è → sono
• legale → legali

So Italian changes several words to match plural agreement.