Breakdown of Tutti hanno visitato il bel vulcano, eccetto mio fratello minore.
bello
beautiful
il fratello
the brother
mio
my
visitare
to visit
Questions & Answers about Tutti hanno visitato il bel vulcano, eccetto mio fratello minore.
Why use minore instead of più piccolo for "younger"?
Minore is the irregular comparative of piccolo (small). When talking about siblings in Italian, it is extremely common to use minore for "younger" and maggiore for "older." You can still use the regular form and say mio fratello più piccolo, but minore is slightly more elegant and just as frequently used.
Why is it bel vulcano rather than bello vulcano?
When the adjective bello is placed before a noun, it changes its ending to mimic the definite article that the noun would take. Because "vulcano" takes il (il vulcano), bello shortens to bel. If you placed the adjective after the noun, you would use the full normal form: il vulcano bello.
Why isn't there a definite article before mio fratello (like il mio fratello)?
Remember that in Italian, you must drop the definite article before a possessive when talking about a singular family member. Adding minore after the noun doesn't break this rule, so it remains mio fratello minore. However, if the family member were plural, the article would come back (i miei fratelli minori).
Could I use ognuno instead of tutti to say "everyone" here?