Question 1

Why does the sentence use del professore instead of just di professore?

Accepted Answer

The basic pattern for comparing things is più ... di (more ... than). But Italian uses definite articles before nouns much more often than English. So, we need to combine the word for than (di) with the word for the (il professore). When di and il combine, they merge to form the single word del.

Question 2

Does più always mean more? The English translation says thinner instead of more thin.

Accepted Answer

Yes! In English, we often add -er to short words to compare them (thin becomes thinner). Italian does not have an -er ending. You must always use più (more) before the adjective. So più magro literally translates as more thin, which simply means thinner in English.

Question 3

Why does magro end in -o here?

Accepted Answer

Adjectives in Italian must match the gender and number of the person or thing they describe. In a comparative sentence, the adjective matches the first subject. Since il medico (the doctor) is a masculine singular noun, the adjective magro takes the masculine singular ending -o.

Question 4

What if the professor is a woman? How would the end of the sentence change?

Accepted Answer

If the professor is a woman, you would use la professoressa. The word for than (di) would then combine with the article la to make della. So the end of the sentence would be della professoressa. The word magro would not change, because it is still describing the male doctor.

Il medico è più magro del professore.

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