Learn Italian: Queste penne e questi quaderni sono qui. - These pens and these notebooks are here.

Queste penne e questi quaderni sono qui.

These pens and these notebooks are here.

Breakdown of Queste penne e questi quaderni sono qui.

Questions & Answers about Queste penne e questi quaderni sono qui.

Why do we use queste for the pens but questi for the notebooks?

In Italian, the word for "these" has to match the gender of the noun it describes. Penne (pens) is feminine plural, so it takes the feminine plural queste. Quaderni (notebooks) is masculine plural, so it takes the masculine plural questi.

In English we can just say "These pens and notebooks". Why does Italian repeat the word for "these"?

In Italian, you must match the adjective to the specific noun it describes. Because penne is feminine and quaderni is masculine, they require different versions of "these" (queste and questi). Even if they were the same gender, Italian strongly prefers to repeat words like "these" before each noun for clarity.

I forgot, how can I tell that penne is feminine and quaderni is masculine?

Look at their singular forms! Penne comes from the singular penna (ending in -a, usually feminine). Quaderni comes from the singular quaderno (ending in -o, usually masculine). When they become plural, the -a changes to -e, and the -o changes to -i.

Why is it just sono qui instead of loro sono qui?