Breakdown of Quell'albergo è grande e quell'uccello è piccolo.
essere
to be
e
and
grande
big
piccolo
small
quello
that
l'uccello
the bird (m)
l'albergo
the hotel (m)
Questions & Answers about Quell'albergo è grande e quell'uccello è piccolo.
Why do we use quell' here instead of quello?
The word quello is a demonstrative adjective meaning that. When it comes before a masculine noun starting with a vowel, like albergo or uccello, it drops its final letter and takes an apostrophe, becoming quell'. It acts just like the definite article lo becoming l' before a vowel.
Would quell' look different if it was in front of a feminine word starting with a vowel?
No, it looks exactly the same! The feminine version is quella, but it also drops its final letter and takes an apostrophe before a vowel. For example, that island is quell'isola.
Why does the adjective grande end in -e while piccolo ends in -o? Don't they both describe masculine words here?
Yes, both albergo and uccello are masculine. However, Italian has two main groups of adjectives. Piccolo belongs to the group that changes endings based on gender, using -o for masculine and -a for feminine. Grande belongs to a group of adjectives that end in -e. These adjectives use the exact same -e ending for both masculine and feminine singular nouns.
What is the difference between è and e in this sentence?
The accent mark is very important here. The word è with the accent means is, coming from the verb essere (to be). The word e without the accent means and. The accent is the only way to tell them apart in writing.
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