Gli aggettivi di nazionalità - The adjectives of nationality in Italian

Aggettivi di nazionalità are the adjectives that specify which country a person or thing comes from.

In English the adjective of nationality for Italy is "Italian".

Giovanni comes from Italy.  He is Italian.

In Italian, the adjective of nationality for Italy (Italia) is "italiano."

Giovanni proviene dall'Italia.  È italiano.

Chances are, you've heard "italiano" before, but what about the adjectives of nationality for other countries… like Antigua and Barbuda? Kenya?  Sri Lanka?

In Italian, like in English, even if you don't know the exact adjective, you can still express this idea by using the following construction:

di (definite article)* + (paese)

of/from +  (country)

*When the preposition di (of/from) is combined with a definite article, either: il, la, l', i, le or gli they get joined together to create the articulated forms:  del, della, dell', dei, delle, degli. Whether you can simply use "di" or must use one of the articulated forms in this construction depends on the country/context.

Kasun? Lui è dello Sri Lanka.

Kasun? He's from Sri Lanka.

La squadra olimpica del Kenya è bravissima!

The olympic team from Kenya is great!

That construction works, but often it sounds better to have a single word— the appropriate adjective of nationality.  

Kasun?  Lui è singalese (anche "cingalese")

Kasun?  He's Sri Lankan.

La squadra olimpica keniota è bravissima!

The Kenyan olympic team is great!

The following is an almost complete list of the countries of the world (listed alphabetically in Italian) and their corresponding Aggettivo di nazionalità: 

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(available as a pdf on Google drive)

or

flip through the list here in Flashcard format:

Hint: you can also use the drop down menu on the bottom right hand side "Choose a Study Mode" to see the list in various learning modes and games.

There isn't always a corresponding adjective (in this case the aforementioned construction is the only option) and sometimes, more than one term is acceptable.  


Want more explanation and/or activities? Check out these sites:


Aggettivi di Nazionalità da One World Italiano
Esercizio- Aggettivi di Nazionalità da Impariamo Italiano

Mi chiamo Alex e sono americana (o statunitense!)... e tu?

Song Lyrics and meaning: L'essenziale by Marco Mengoni

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L'essenziale can be found on the 2013 album #prontoacorrere.

If you follow the Italian music competition, Sanremo, then you already know that the 2013 winner in the "Campioni" category was Marco Mengoni with his song "L'essenziale." What you may not know, however, is all the lyrics to the song and/or what they mean so let's watch a video of the song with the lyrics included. If you can, listen several times and sing along when you feel ready.

Now that you're familiar with it, let's look at the text all at once:

Sostengono gli eroi
"se il gioco si fa duro,
è da giocare!"
Beati loro poi
se scambiano le offese con il bene.
Succede anche a noi
di far la guerra e ambire poi alla pace
e nel silenzio mio
annullo ogni tuo singolo dolore.
Per apprezzare quello che
non ho saputo scegliere.

Mentre il mondo cade a pezzi
io compongo nuovi spazi
e desideri che
appartengono anche a te
che da sempre sei per me
l'essenziale.

Non accetteró
un altro errore di valutazione,
l'amore è in grado di
celarsi dietro amabili parole
che ho pronunciato prima che
fossero vuote e stupide.

Mentre il mondo cade a pezzi
io compongo nuovi spazi
e desideri che
appartengono anche a te.
Mentre il mondo cade a pezzi
mi allontano dagli eccessi
e dalle cattive abitudini,
torneró all'origine,
torno a te che sei per me
l'essenziale

L'amore non segue le logiche
Ti toglie il respiro e la sete.

Mentre il mondo cade a pezzi
io compongo nuovi spazi
e desideri che
appartengono anche a te.
Mentre il mondo cade a pezzi
mi allontano dagli eccessi
e dalle cattive abitudini,
torneró all'origine,
torno a te che sei per me
l'essenziale

Text provided by angolotesti.it (they're my favorite resource for the lyrics to Italian songs!)

What words do you recognize?  Which words don't you understand?  Using a dictionary (I almost always use wordreference.com) make a list of the unknown words.  See if you can identify which part of speech each word is (noun, verb, adjective, pronoun, preposition, etc.) For the verbs, can you tell which tense is used?  Any tenses you haven't studied yet?

Now, take a look at my rough English translation below. Note which words and phrases I translated literally and where I chose to change the wording a bit...  Can you think of other ways to word the expressions in English or do you see anything you would translate differently?


Heroes assert
“if the game is difficult,
then it’s to be played!”
Good for them then
if they mistake harm for good.
It happens also to us
to make war and then yearn for peace
and in my silence
I take away each one of your pains.
In order to appreciate what
I haven’t before known to choose.

While the world falls to pieces
I put together new spaces
and desires that
belong also to you
because you’ve always been to me
what’s essential.

I will not accept
another mistake in judgment
love is capable of
hiding itself behind loving words
that I said aloud before when
they were empty and stupid.

While the world falls to pieces
I put together new spaces
and new desires that
belong also to you
While the world falls to pieces
I move away from the excess
and from the bad habits,
I’ll return to the origin
I return to you because you are for me
what’s essential.

Now, listen to the song again.  Sometimes, I find that the mood of the song has changed once I understand the words more fully, is that the case with you?  Do you like the song any more or any less now?

Keep listening and singing along and stay tuned (pun intended) for more Song exercises... I promise, it's one of the best ways to learn a language!

Buon ascolto! 
—Alex

Where to find #prontoacorrere by country:

Mp3 album (or individual tracks): (uk) ~ (fr) ~ (de) 

CD #prontoacorrere: (us) ~ (uk) ~ (fr) ~ (de) ~ (it) ~ (es)