Question 1

How do we know abilità is plural if it doesn't end in an "-e" or "-i"?

Accepted Answer

Abilità is part of a special group of nouns that end in an accented vowel (like città or caffè). These nouns are invariable, meaning their spelling doesn't change in the plural. You can tell it's plural here because the words around it (Le sue, sono, importanti) are all in their plural forms.

Question 2

The translation says "His skills", so why do we use the feminine word sue?

Accepted Answer

In Italian, the possessive adjective always agrees with the object being owned, not the owner. Since abilità is a feminine plural noun, you must use the feminine plural sue, regardless of whether the skills belong to a man or a woman.

Question 3

Why do we use di for "than" in this sentence instead of che?

Accepted Answer

When you are comparing two nouns or pronouns directly against each other (his skills vs. queste, meaning "these ones"), you use di for "than". You would use che if you were comparing two adjectives, like "more important than useful", or two verbs.

Question 4

What is queste referring to at the end of the sentence?

Accepted Answer

Queste means "these" and acts as a pronoun here, standing in for "these skills" to avoid repeating the word. Because abilità is a feminine plural noun, the pronoun must match it, which is why we use the feminine plural queste instead of the masculine questi.

Le sue abilità sono più importanti di queste.

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