Italian Candy Cane Adjective Match
A sweet Christmas grammar challenge! Match the noun on each falling candy cane with the correct adjective form on a gift box. Watch the gender and number, and save each candy cane before it disappears completely below the play area!
Match Gender and Number!
Read the noun and its article on each candy cane, then tap the adjective form that agrees with both its gender and number. The examples below show how to find the right ending.
LA CASA → BELLA · A feminine singular noun needs a feminine singular adjective. The candy cane pops, and the gift stays ready for the next match!
How Italian Adjectives Work
An adjective describes a person, animal, place or thing. For example, bello means “beautiful,” nuovo means “new,” and pulito means “clean.” Choose a form that agrees with the noun’s gender and number.
Is the noun masculine or feminine? Does it name one thing (singular) or more than one (plural)? Learn each noun with its article.
1. Read the article and noun
Before a vowel, singular il / lo and la become l’: l’albero (the tree, masculine) and l’auto (the car, feminine). Use lo / gli before certain consonant sounds: lo zaino / gli zaini and lo specchio / gli specchi.
2. Match the adjective ending
Many Italian adjectives follow the pattern -o, -a, -i, -e. Here are the four forms of bello:
il libro è bello
the book is beautiful
la casa è bella
the house is beautiful
i libri sono belli
the books are beautiful
le case sono belle
the houses are beautiful
3. Some forms have the same spelling
Adjectives ending in -e, such as veloce (“fast”), usually have the same singular form for both genders. Their plural ends in -i: veloci.
Identical adjective forms share one gift. The gift marked veloce accepts il treno or la bici. If an elided label has two possible genders, as with l’artista, either grammatically valid gender form is accepted.
4. Watch the spelling and noun gender
bianco → bianchi
white · masculine singular → pluralfresca → fresche
fresh · feminine singular → pluralla mano → le mani
hand / hands · feminine in both numbersl’uovo → le uova
egg / eggs · masculine singular, feminine pluralWord order can vary. Compare una camicia pulita and una bella casa. Before a noun, bello can have additional forms such as bel or bei. This game practises the forms used after è (“is”) or sono (“are”): il libro è bello, i libri sono belli.
Each game starts with a random adjective from the 30-word library. It stays the same until the game ends. Match masculine, feminine, singular and plural nouns to the matching gifts. Play Again makes a new random choice.
Match the nouns and adjectives!
Tap a candy cane, then its matching adjective gift.