Question 1

Why is it Questo teorema and not Questa teorema since it ends in -a?

Accepted Answer

Even though it ends in -a, teorema is a masculine noun. It belongs to a special group of words of Greek origin ending in -ma (like problema or sistema). Because it is masculine, it must take the masculine word for 'this', which is questo.

Question 2

How would I say 'These theorems are very difficult'?

Accepted Answer

You would say Questi teoremi sono molto difficili. Masculine nouns ending in -ma change their ending to -i in the plural. The adjectives questo and difficile also have to change to their plural forms (questi and difficili) to match the plural noun.

Question 3

If the sentence were plural, would molto change to molti?

Accepted Answer

No, molto would stay exactly the same. In this sentence, molto is acting as an adverb meaning 'very', describing how difficult the theorem is. Adverbs never change their endings. You only change molto to match a noun when it means 'many' or 'a lot of' (for example, molti teoremi).

Question 4

Why doesn't difficile change to difficilo to match the masculine noun teorema?

Accepted Answer

Difficile belongs to a group of adjectives that naturally end in -e in the dictionary. These adjectives use the same -e ending for both masculine and feminine singular nouns, so it doesn't need to change to an -o to match a masculine noun.

Questo teorema è molto difficile.

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