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La pazienza e il coraggio sono le virtù migliori.

La pazienza e il coraggio sono le virtù migliori.
Patience and courage are the best virtues.
From Lesson 254:Invariable plurals for accented nouns (le città, i caffè)·Italian

Questions & Answers about La pazienza e il coraggio sono le virtù migliori.

Why is the plural of virtù just virtù instead of changing the ending?
Nouns that end in an accented vowel, like virtù, are invariable. This means their endings do not change in the plural. You can only tell it is plural because of the plural article le. Other common examples are la città becoming le città and il caffè becoming i caffè.
Why are there articles before pazienza and coraggio when the English translation just says Patience and courage?
In Italian, abstract nouns like qualities, concepts, or ideas usually require a definite article. Since patience and courage are abstract concepts, they need la and il.
How do we know migliori means best and not better in this sentence?
Italian forms the relative superlative (the best) by combining the definite article with the comparative adjective (better). Because we have the definite article in the phrase le virtù migliori, it translates to the best virtues rather than just better virtues.
Why does the adjective migliori end in -i if it is describing a feminine plural noun?
The singular adjective is migliore. In Italian, adjectives that end in -e in the singular always change to -i in the plural, regardless of whether the noun they describe is masculine or feminine. Therefore, it correctly matches the feminine plural le virtù.

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