Learn Italian: La piazza è tranquilla, ma quella strada è la più rumorosa. - The square is quiet, but that street is the noisiest.

La piazza è tranquilla, ma quella strada è la più rumorosa.

The square is quiet, but that street is the noisiest.

Breakdown of La piazza è tranquilla, ma quella strada è la più rumorosa.

Questions & Answers about La piazza è tranquilla, ma quella strada è la più rumorosa.

How does Italian form "the noisiest" in this sentence?

It uses the relative superlative structure: definite article + più (more) + adjective. Because it refers to strada, which is a feminine singular noun, it uses the feminine singular article la and the feminine adjective rumorosa, giving us la più rumorosa.

In English, we often say "the noisiest one". Where is the word for "one" in the Italian sentence?

Italian doesn't use a word for "one" in this situation. You simply use the definite article and the adjective together (la più rumorosa). The article la acts like a placeholder that points right back to quella strada.

Why is the word for "that" quella here?

The demonstrative adjective quello (that) changes its ending to match the noun it describes, following a similar pattern to definite articles. Since you would use the article la for strada, you use quella to say quella strada.

Could I include the noun and say la più rumorosa strada?

No, the word order in Italian is different. If you want to include the noun, it usually goes right after the article, like la strada più rumorosa (literally "the street most noisy"). In this sentence, the noun is dropped entirely because we already know we are talking about the street.