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Il cibo francese è ottimo.

Il cibo francese è ottimo.
French food is excellent.
From Lesson 44:Nationalities (le nazionalità)·Italian

Breakdown of Il cibo francese è ottimo.

essere
to be
ottimo
excellent
il cibo
the food
francese
French

Questions & Answers about Il cibo francese è ottimo.

Why do we say Il cibo when the English translation just says "French food"?
In Italian, when you talk about a general category or concept—like food, love, or time—you almost always need to include the definite article (the "the" word). While in English we just say "French food", Italian requires Il cibo francese.
Why is the adjective francese placed after the noun cibo?
In Italian, descriptive adjectives, including colors and nationalities, usually come after the noun they describe. That is why "French food" is written as food (cibo) French (francese).
Cibo is a masculine word ending in -o. Why doesn't the adjective match it by ending in -o as well?
Not all adjectives have separate masculine and feminine endings. Francese belongs to a group of adjectives that end in -e in the singular. These adjectives use the exact same form for both masculine and feminine nouns. For example, you would say il vino francese (masculine) and la pizza francese (feminine).
Can I say molto ottimo to mean "very excellent"?
No, you should never use molto (very) with ottimo. Ottimo is a strong adjective that already means "excellent" or "extremely good" on its own. Adding molto would be redundant, so you just say è ottimo.

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