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L'ottimismo che ho visto oggi è meraviglioso.

L'ottimismo che ho visto oggi è meraviglioso.
The optimism that I saw today is wonderful.
From Lesson 342:Attitudes and traits (-ismo, -ista)·Italian

Questions & Answers about L'ottimismo che ho visto oggi è meraviglioso.

How is the word ottimismo formed using this lesson's suffix?
It comes from the adjective ottimo (meaning excellent or best) combined with the suffix -ismo. In Italian, -ismo forms masculine nouns that describe an ideology, movement, or general attitude, just like -ism in English. So, ottimismo is the attitude of expecting the best.
If ottimismo is the feeling, how do I say optimist (the person) using the other target suffix?
You would use the suffix -ista to form ottimista. Remember a tricky rule about -ista nouns: they are identical for masculine and feminine in the singular (e.g., un ottimista vs un'ottimista), but they take regular gendered endings in the plural (gli ottimisti vs le ottimiste).
The English translation doesn't use the, so why does the Italian sentence start with L'?
In Italian, abstract nouns and general concepts require a definite article when used as the subject of a sentence. While we just say Optimism is wonderful in English, Italian requires the article, making it L'ottimismo.
Could I use cui instead of che in this sentence?
No, you must use che. Che is used when the relative pronoun is the subject or direct object of the clause (here, the optimism that I saw, making it the direct object). Cui is only used after a preposition, such as di cui or con cui.

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