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Questi tavoli sono piccoli, ma lo specchio è grande.

Questi tavoli sono piccoli, ma lo specchio è grande.
These tables are small, but the mirror is big.
From Lesson 11:Special singular articles (lo, l')·Italian

Breakdown of Questi tavoli sono piccoli, ma lo specchio è grande.

essere
to be
grande
big
il tavolo
table
piccolo
small
ma
but
questi
these (masculine)
lo specchio
the mirror

Questions & Answers about Questi tavoli sono piccoli, ma lo specchio è grande.

Why do we use lo instead of il for specchio?
Because specchio is a masculine word that starts with an "s" followed by another consonant (the letter "p"). In Italian, masculine words starting with an "s" plus a consonant use the special article lo instead of il. This makes the words flow together better when speaking!
Why is the word for "these" questi and not queste?
Questi is the masculine plural form of "this/these". It ends in "i" to match the masculine plural noun tavoli (tables). If we were talking about a feminine plural noun, like chairs (sedie), we would use the feminine plural form queste.
Why does piccoli end in an "i"?
In Italian, adjectives must match the noun they describe. Because tavoli is a masculine plural noun, the adjective piccolo (small) changes its ending to the masculine plural form, becoming piccoli.
Why does grande end in "e" if specchio is masculine? Shouldn't it be "grando"?
Not all adjectives end in "o" for masculine and "a" for feminine. There is a whole group of adjectives that simply end in "e" in their singular form, like grande (big) and intelligente (smart). These "e" adjectives use the exact same form for both masculine and feminine nouns, so grande is perfectly correct for the masculine noun specchio.

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