Breakdown of L'ingegnere ha valutato i criteri, i quali sono affidabili.
essere
to be
avere
to have
affidabile
reliable
il quale
who, which, whom (also la quale, i quali, le quali)
l'ingegnere
the engineer (m)
valutare
to evaluate
il criterio
the criterion
Questions & Answers about L'ingegnere ha valutato i criteri, i quali sono affidabili.
Why use i quali here instead of just che?
In Italian, che is the most common relative pronoun for subjects. However, using i quali makes the sentence sound more formal, written, and precise. Because i quali explicitly shows gender and number (masculine plural), it completely eliminates any ambiguity about what it refers back to, which is especially useful in complex sentences.
Why is there a comma before i quali, and would the sentence mean something else without it?
Yes! The comma creates a non-defining relative clause, meaning it just adds extra information: the engineer evaluated the criteria, and by the way, they happen to be reliable. If you removed the comma, it would mean the engineer only evaluated the specific criteria that were reliable, while ignoring the unreliable ones.
Why is the plural of criterio spelled criteri with only one i?
Affidabili ends in -i. Is this because it is masculine to match i criteri?
It does match the plural criteri, but remember that the singular form is affidabile. Adjectives that end in -e in the singular do not change based on gender. In the plural, they always end in -i, whether they describe a masculine noun like criteri or a feminine noun like macchine (cars).
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