Log inSign up

La mela verde è croccante e buona da mangiare.

La mela verde è croccante e buona da mangiare.
The green apple is crispy and good to eat.
From Lesson 272:Adjectives with infinitives (bello da vedere)·Italian

Questions & Answers about La mela verde è croccante e buona da mangiare.

Why is da used here instead of a or di before the infinitive verb?
In Italian, when an adjective describes a quality of a noun in relation to an action (like being 'good to eat', 'hard to understand', or 'ready to use'), you link the adjective and the infinitive verb with the preposition da.
Why does croccante end in -e while buona ends in -a, since both describe the feminine noun la mela?
Croccante belongs to a category of Italian adjectives that always end in -e in the singular. They don't change based on whether the noun is masculine or feminine. Buono, on the other hand, is a standard adjective that changes its ending (-o, -a, -i, -e) to match the gender and number of the noun.
Does da mangiare mean someone is eating the apple, or that the apple is 'to be eaten'?
In this specific [adjective] + da + [infinitive] structure, the verb actually takes on a passive meaning. Even though mangiare is an active verb meaning 'to eat', here it acts passively, meaning the apple is 'good to be eaten'.
If I were talking about multiple green apples, how would the adjectives change?
You would change the nouns and adjectives to plural, but the da mangiare part stays exactly the same: Le mele verdi sono croccanti e buone da mangiare. Notice that croccante changes to croccanti (the plural for adjectives ending in -e), and buona changes to buone.

Learn La mela verde è croccante e buona da mangiare and more in Italian

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Italian →