How to use ‘buono,’ ‘bello,’ and ‘grande’ in Italian?

In Italian, we use bello/a to mean “beautiful,” buono/a to mean “good,” and grande to mean “big.” It seems simple, but my students often struggle with these three adjectives, first because bello and buono have similar meanings, but also because these adjectives all take on different forms depending on where they are placed relative to the noun they describe.

In this post, we’ll review these uses of bello, buono, and grande, and, as a bonus quello (meaning that) and santo (meaning Saint)! Along the way, we’ll learn some useful tips that will make you really sound like a native!

Bello/a is used in Italian to mean “beautiful.” Italy is renowned as a country of beauty! We love beauty so much that when friends meet they just say: Ciao bello / bella (meaning Hello, guys!). So, if there is an adjective that Italians love to use, it is bello/a. Let’s learn how it works, because it’s a bit tricky…

Bello/a is used to say that someone or something has a pleasant appearance.

And now, let’s see how to use it depending on its position:

In Italian, quello/a (meaning that) is a demonstrative adjective, along with questo (meaning this), but while questo behaves like any adjective, quello behaves in the exact same way as bello/a when placed before a noun, and so it follows the same rules as the definite articles.

You don’t have to worry about the position of the adjective quello, since the only possible position is strictly before the noun.

Buono/a is used to mean “good.” Primarily it is used when we:

• Describe flavors and smells:

  Ho mangiato una buona fetta di torta.

  Translation: I ate a good slice of cake.

  Le lenzuola hanno un buon profumo.

  Translation: The sheets have a good smell.

• Give a positive opinion on the quality of something or someone.

  Mia zia è una persona buona.

  Translation: My aunt is a kind person.

  Ho letto un buon articolo.

  Translation: I read a well-written article.

  The precise meaning can also change depending on the position:

  Before a noun:

  essere una buona insegnante

  Translation: to be a good, clever teacher

  After a noun:

  essere un'insegnante buona

  Translation: to be a kind teacher

  After the noun, buono/a behaves as a normal four-ending adjective: buono/buona/buoni/buone.

  Cristina è un’amica buona.

  Translation: Cristina is a kind friend.

  But when it comes before the noun it has some special forms.

  How to use ‘buono/a’ before the noun?

  Before the noun, buono/a still agrees with the noun, but its form changes slightly depending on the first letter(s) of the word that immediately follows it. Buono/a follows similar rules to the indefinite and partitive articles.

  Un buon odorino proveniva dalla cucina.

  Translation: A good smell was coming from the kitchen

  Alla buon’ora sei arrivato.

  Translation: Finally (lit. at a good hour) you got here!

  Here is a summary of the forms:

  Position	Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Masculine Plural	Feminine Plural
  before a noun	buon, buono	buona, buon'	buoni	buone
  after a noun	buono	buona	buoni	buone

  Check out this table that compares indefinite/partitive articles and buono/a used in front of nouns to see just how similar they are!

Grande is used to mean “big,” “large,” or “great,” in Italian. It can be translated differently into English depending on the context.

After the noun, grande behaves as a two-ending adjective, meaning that it only has a singular and plural form: grande and grandi.

But when it’s used before the noun, things get a little more complex!

Santo/a is the Italian adjective for “Saint” in English. Why do we say Sant’Anna (meaning Saint Anne), San Giovanni (meaning Saint John), but la Croce Santa (meaning the Holy Cross) in Italian? As with grande, it depends on where the adjective is placed.

When used after the noun Santo is a four-ending adjective: santo, santa, santi, sante.

Before the noun, santo can have different forms.

• Use Santo before a masculine proper noun starting with s + consonant: Santo Spirito (meaning Holy Spirit), Santo Stefano (meaning Saint Stephen). And use Santa before a feminine proper noun starting with any consonant: Santa Maria (meaning Saint Mary).

• It becomes Sant’ before a singular noun starting with a vowel: Sant’Anna (meaning Saint. Ann)or Sant’Antonio (meaning Saint Anthony).

• It becomes San before a masculine singular noun starting with a consonant (other than s + consonant): San Bernardo (meaning Saint Bernard), San Simeone (meaning Saint Simeon). Also with names of towns as in San Zenone, San Casciano, or San Godenzo in Tuscany.

In Italian we say: prima il dovere e poi il piacere (meaning work before pleasure), so let’s recap the uses of bello/buono/grande to help you with our activities, and then let’s conclude with a fantastic song!

Enjoy Bella (lyrics) by Jovanotti, and see you next time...Ciao belli (meaning Bye, guys)!