Character and personality
Carattere e personalità
- Learn to describe the character of people.
- Talk about personalities.
- The relative superlative: il più, il meno, i più, ...
Explore the relative superlative in Italian to compare personalities using phrases like "il più simpatico" (the nicest) and "la meno timida" (the least shy). Learn key character traits such as amichevole (friendly), generoso (generous), and antipatico (unpleasant) to describe people effectively.
Vocabulary (13) Share Copied!
Exercises Share Copied!
These exercises can be done together during conversation lessons or as homework.
Exercise 1: Reorder sentences
Instruction: Make correct sentences and translate.
Exercise 2: Match a word
Instruction: Match the translations
Exercise 3: Cluster the words
Instruction: Classify the words based on the type of character: positive or negative.
Carattere positivo
Carattere negativo
Exercise 4: Translate and use in a sentence
Instruction: Pick a word, translated and use the word in a sentence or dialogue.
1
Stressato
Stressed
2
Timido
Shy
3
Amichevole
Friendly
4
Simpatico
Likeable
5
Goffo
Clumsy
Esercizio 5: Conversation exercise
Istruzione:
- Describe and compare the people. (Describe and compare the people. )
- Describe your own character. (Describe your own character.)
- Describe your family members and friends. (Describe your family members and friends.)
Teaching guidelines +/- 10 minutes
Example phrases:
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Juliette e Lukas sono una coppia affettuosa. Juliette and Lukas are an affectionate couple. |
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Raúl è la persona più chiusa. È introverso. Raúl is the most closed person. He is introverted. |
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Caitlin non è sportiva; è la persona meno attiva. Caitlin is not sporty; she is the least active person. |
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È la persona più pigra. He is the most lazy person. |
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Sembro pigro ma sono attivo. I seem lazy but I am active. |
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Posso essere timido se non conosco le persone. I can be shy if I do not know the people. |
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Non è onesto. He is not honest. |
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Lei è molto amichevole ma non molto intelligente. She is very friendly but not very smart. |
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Sono studenti intelligenti. They are intelligent students. |
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Sono piuttosto stupidi, ma non glielo diremo. They are rather dumb, but we will not tell them. |
| ... |
Exercise 6: Dialogue Cards
Instruction: Select a situation and practice the conversation with your teacher or fellow students.
Exercise 7: Multiple Choice
Instruction: Choose the correct solution
1. Ieri __ incontrato la mia collega più simpatica in ufficio.
(Yesterday __ met my nicest colleague at the office.)2. Lei __ stata la meno stressata durante la riunione di ieri.
(She __ was the least stressed during yesterday’s meeting.)3. Il mio amico __ il più timido del gruppo.
(My friend __ the shyest in the group.)4. Abbiamo __ il collega più generoso alla festa aziendale.
(We __ the most generous colleague at the company party.)Exercise 8: Meeting new colleagues at the company party
Instruction:
Verb Tables
Incontrare - Meet
Passato prossimo
- io ho incontrato
- tu hai incontrato
- lui/lei ha incontrato
- noi abbiamo incontrato
- voi avete incontrato
- loro hanno incontrato
Sembrare - Seem
Passato prossimo
- io sono sembrato/a
- tu sei sembrato/a
- lui/lei è sembrato/a
- noi siamo sembrati/e
- voi siete sembrati/e
- loro sono sembrati/e
Parlare - Talk
Passato prossimo
- io ho parlato
- tu hai parlato
- lui/lei ha parlato
- noi abbiamo parlato
- voi avete parlato
- loro hanno parlato
Exercise 9: Il superlativo relativo: il più, il meno, i più, ...
Instruction: Fill in the correct word.
Grammar: The relative superlative: il più, il meno, i più, ...
Show translation Show answersil più intelligente, il più pigro, la più bugiarda, la più generosa, il più goffo, la più timida, la meno stressata, il meno socievole
Grammar Share Copied!
It's not the most exciting thing, we admit, but it’s absolutely essential (and we promise it'll pay off)!
A1.28.1 Grammatica
Il superlativo relativo: il più, il meno, i più, ...
The relative superlative: il più, il meno, i più, ...
Verb conjugation tables for this lesson Share Copied!
Incontrare to meet Share Copied!
Passato prossimo
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| (io) ho incontrato | I met |
| (tu) hai incontrato | You have met |
| (lui/lei) ha incontrato | He/she met |
| (noi) abbiamo incontrato | we met |
| (voi) avete incontrato | You have met |
| (loro) hanno incontrato | they have met |
Sembrare to seem Share Copied!
Passato prossimo
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| (io) sono sembrato / sono sembrata | I seemed |
| (tu) sei sembrato / sei sembrata | You seemed |
| (lui/lei) è sembrato / è sembrata | he/she seemed |
| (noi) siamo sembrati / siamo sembrate | we seemed |
| (voi) siete sembrati / siete sembrate | You seemed |
| (loro) sono sembrati / sono sembrate | they seemed |
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Lesson Overview: Character and Personality in Italian
This lesson focuses on expressing character traits and personality using the Italian superlative relative forms. These superlatives help you describe someone as "the most" or "the least" in relation to a group, specifically highlighting qualities or personality traits.
Key Grammar Point: The Superlative Relative
In Italian, the superlative relative is formed with il più (the most) and il meno (the least), adjusting for gender and number as needed: il più, la più, i più, le più. This lesson uses these to compare personalities, for example:
- Chi è il tuo amico più simpatico? (Who is your nicest friend?)
- Marco è il più intelligente della classe. (Marco is the smartest in the class.)
- Tu sei la meno stressata oggi, vero? (You are the least stressed today, right?)
Important Vocabulary: Describing Personality Traits
The lesson introduces positive and negative personality adjectives to describe people:
- Positive traits: amichevole (friendly), generoso (generous), intelligente (intelligent), simpatico (nice), socievole (sociable)
- Negative traits: antipatico (unpleasant), bugiardo (liar), pigro (lazy)
Practical Use: Dialogues and Examples
You will see dialogues that help you practice describing colleagues and friends, applying the superlative relative to convey nuances in character:
- Discussing the nicest or most sociable colleague
- Comparing who is the most fun or the least fun among friends
- Describing new acquaintances using personality superlatives
Additional Content: Verb Practice
The lesson also revisits important verbs like incontrare (to meet), sembrare (to seem), and parlare (to speak) in the passato prossimo tense to talk about past experiences of meeting and describing people.
Differences and Useful Phrases
One noticeable difference between English and Italian is the placement and agreement in superlative forms. Unlike English, Italian articles (il, la, i, le) must agree with the gender and number of the noun they modify, and the adjective follows the article. For example, the most intelligent is il più intelligente (masculine singular) or la più intelligente (feminine singular).
Useful phrases include:
- Chi è il più simpatico? — Who is the nicest?
- Lei è la meno timida. — She is the least shy.
- Lui è il più generoso che conosco. — He is the most generous I know.
Understanding these structures will help you describe people naturally in Italian and express subtle differences in character and personality effectively.
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