Learn Italian: Un buon esempio è molto utile. - A good example is very useful.

Un buon esempio è molto utile.

A good example is very useful.

Breakdown of Un buon esempio è molto utile.

Questions & Answers about Un buon esempio è molto utile.

Why is it buon instead of buono before esempio?

The adjective buono changes its shape depending on the noun it comes before. For masculine singular nouns starting with a vowel, like esempio, it drops the final -o and becomes buon. It actually follows the exact same pattern as the word un!

Should there be an apostrophe after buon since esempio starts with a vowel?

No apostrophe is needed here because esempio is masculine. You only use an apostrophe with the feminine form when it drops its vowel before another vowel (for example, una buon'amica). For masculine words, it is always just buon.

I thought adjectives usually go after the noun in Italian. Why is buon before esempio?

You are right that most descriptive adjectives go after the noun. However, a small group of very common adjectives, including buono (good), bello (beautiful), and bravo (skilled), usually come before the noun.

The word esempio is masculine and ends in -o, so why does utile end in -e?

The word utile belongs to a group of adjectives that naturally end in -e in their singular dictionary form. These adjectives do not change between masculine and feminine, so utile is the correct singular form whether it describes a masculine word or a feminine one.