Breakdown of Le due copie hanno il medesimo formato.
avere
to have
due
two
medesimo
same / exact same
la copia
copy (duplicate, reproduction)
Questions & Answers about Le due copie hanno il medesimo formato.
Why does this sentence use medesimo instead of stesso?
Could I put medesimo after the noun, saying il formato medesimo?
You could, but it would change the meaning. When medesimo (or stesso) comes after the noun, it adds reflexive emphasis, meaning 'itself'. So il formato medesimo means 'the format itself'. Because this sentence compares two copies to say they share an identical format, the word for 'same' must go before the noun.
Copie is a feminine plural noun. Why does the sentence use the masculine singular medesimo?
Adjectives always agree with the specific noun they modify. Even though the subject of the sentence (le copie) is feminine plural, medesimo is describing the object of the sentence, il formato, which is masculine singular.