Learn Italian: Questa sedia è piccola e questa mela è grande. - This chair is small and this apple is big.

Questo means "this", but it is an adjective here, so it has to match the gender of the noun it points to. Because both sedia (chair) and mela (apple) are feminine singular words, questo changes its ending to the feminine singular form, questa.

Why does the adjective piccola end in 'a'?

Adjectives describe nouns, and in Italian, they must match the noun's gender and number. Since sedia is a feminine singular noun, the dictionary form of the adjective piccolo (small) changes its ending to match, becoming piccola.

Wait, if mela is feminine, why doesn't grande end in 'a' too?

This is a great catch! Italian has two main types of adjectives. The first type ends in -o or -a depending on gender (like piccolo/piccola). The second type always ends in -e for singular nouns, regardless of whether they are masculine or feminine. Grande (big) belongs to this second group, so it stays exactly the same here.

Is the word order in this sentence exactly the same as English?

Yes! Simple descriptive sentences like this often match English perfectly. Questa sedia è piccola translates word-for-word to "This chair is small".