Learn Italian: Quest'albero è molto bello. - This tree is very beautiful.

Quest'albero è molto bello.

This tree is very beautiful.

Breakdown of Quest'albero è molto bello.

Questions & Answers about Quest'albero è molto bello.

Why is there an apostrophe in Quest'albero?

The word for "this" here is originally questo, because albero (tree) is a masculine noun. However, when questo comes before a word that starts with a vowel, Italians drop the final -o and replace it with an apostrophe to make pronunciation smoother. So, questo albero becomes quest'albero.

If the noun was feminine and started with a vowel, would it still be Quest'?

Yes! The feminine word for "this" is questa. Just like questo, when questa comes right before a vowel, it drops its final letter. So whether the singular noun is masculine or feminine, if it starts with a vowel, you use quest' (like quest'isola for "this island").

Why does bello end in -o?

Bello is an adjective meaning "beautiful." In Italian, adjectives must match the gender and number of the noun they describe. Since albero is a masculine singular noun, bello takes the masculine singular ending -o.

Could molto change its ending to match the masculine noun?