Breakdown of Questa deputata è anche una brava magistrata.
essere
to be
un
a / an (masculine)
questo
this (masculine)
anche
also, too
bravo
good / skillful (ability, well-behaved)
la deputata
female member of parliament
la magistrata
female magistrate
Questions & Answers about Questa deputata è anche una brava magistrata.
Are forms like deputata and magistrata completely standard now, or is the masculine still used for women?
They are the modern standard. Historically, titles for high-status professions were kept in the masculine even for women (using la magistrato or even il magistrato). Today, regularizing them to end in -a for female professionals is strongly encouraged and widely used. You might still hear the masculine forms occasionally, but the feminine forms are grammatically correct and expected in modern Italian.
If someone did use the masculine title magistrato for this woman, would the adjectives change to masculine too?
No, and that awkwardness is exactly why modern feminine forms are useful. If you used magistrato for a female subject, the sentence would technically be Questa deputata è anche una brava magistrato. Mixing feminine adjectives and articles with a masculine-ending noun sounds jarring, which helped push the adoption of fully matched forms like magistrata.
Why is it una brava magistrata instead of una magistrata brava?
Placing common adjectives of quality like bravo, bello, or buono before the noun is standard to express an inherent or holistic quality. Putting brava after the noun is grammatically fine but emphasizes the adjective to distinguish her from other magistrates who might be bad, which is less natural for a simple compliment.
Does deputata mean any kind of deputy or assistant?
In Italy, a deputata almost exclusively refers to a Member of Parliament in the lower house. If you want to talk about a deputy in the sense of a second-in-command, you would typically use the prefix vice- (like vicedirettrice) or the word vice on its own.
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