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Le porzioni al ristorante sono grandissime.

Le porzioni al ristorante sono grandissime.
The portions at the restaurant are very big.
From Lesson 88:The absolute superlative (-issimo)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Le porzioni al ristorante sono grandissime.

How does grandissime work and why does it end in -e?
Grandissime is the absolute superlative of grande (big). To make it, you drop the final vowel of the adjective and add -issimo. Because it describes le porzioni (feminine plural), the ending changes to match, becoming -issime. It translates to very big or huge.
The singular adjective is grande. Does the -issimo suffix work the same for adjectives that end in -e as it does for those ending in -o or -a?
Yes! Whether the original adjective ends in -o, -a, or -e, the rule is exactly the same: drop the final vowel and add the -issimo suffix. Then, you just adjust the final letter of the suffix to match the gender and number of the noun, which gives us grandissime here.
Why is it le porzioni? Isn't -i usually a masculine plural ending?
Nouns ending in -zione are almost always feminine. The singular is la porzione. For nouns that end in -e in the singular, the plural ending is always -i, regardless of whether they are masculine or feminine. So, la porzione correctly becomes le porzioni.
Why do we use al ristorante instead of nel ristorante?
In Italian, the preposition a (here combined with il to make al) is commonly used for locations when talking about being at or going to a typical place, like al ristorante (at the restaurant), al cinema, or al bar. Using nel would strictly emphasize being physically inside the building itself.

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