Italian 3.4. Indefinite Adjectives & Pronouns

Indefinite adjectives describe a noun in a vague or non-specific way. For example, “altra gente” (other people), “ogni persona” (eachperson), “parecchie cose” (several things), “Tutte le scuole” (all schools), etc.

On the other hand, an indefinite pronoun replaces the noun in a vague and non-specific way. For example, “Ti dico qualcosa” (I tell you something), “Parlo con qualcuno” (I speak to someone), “Va tutto bene” (All is well), etc.

Many indefinite pronouns are identical to their indefinite adjective counterpart. For example, “tutto” (all), “altro” (other) and “molto” (muchor many).

Unlike most adjectives in Italian, indefinite adjectives precede the noun they describe. Some also change form to agree with the noun in gender and number. Indefinite adjectives and pronouns are used abundantly in Italian. Thus, it is very useful to learn the most common ones.

Most Common Indefinite Adjectives & Pronouns in Italian

Here is a list of the most common indefinite adjectives and pronouns:

	Meaning		Examples
abbastanza	enough	indef. adj. & pron.	Ho abbastanza soldi.	I have enough money.
troppo, -a, -i, -e	too much, too many	indef. adj. & pron.	Qui c’è troppa gente.	There are too many people here.
l’uno l’altro l’una l’altra	each other	indef. adj. & pron.	Devono aiutarsi l’un l’altro.	They must help each other.
l’uno o l’altro l’una o l’altra	one or the other	indef. adj. & pron.	Devi scegliere l’una o l’altra di queste case.	You must choose one or the other of these houses.
entrambi, -e	both	indef. adj. & pron.	Entrambe le opzioni sono disponibili.	Both options are available.
gli altri le altre	the others	indef. adj. & pron.	Gli altri non sono disponibili.	The others are not available.
il resto	the rest	indef. adj. & pron.	Il resto del mondo sta soffrendo.	The rest of the world is suffering.
stesso, -a, -i, -e	same, self	indef. adj. & pron.	È la stessa persona che abbiamo visto ieri sera.	It is the same person we saw last night.
certo, -a, -i, -e	certain	indef. adj. & pron.	Solo certe persone possono farlo.	Only certain people can do that.
altro, -a, -i, -e	other, another	indef. adj. & pron.	Vorrei un altro bicchiere d’acqua, per favore.	I’d like another glass of water, please.
tutto, -a	all, every	indef. adj. & pron.	Piove tutto l’anno nel paese.	All year round, it rains in the country.
tutti, -e	all, everybody	indef. adj. & pron.	Tutti noi veniamo dall’Australia.	All of us are from Australia.
poco, -a	little, not much	indef. adj. & pron.	Abbiamo bisogno di poco tempo per arrivare.	We need little time to arrive.
pochi, -e	few	indef. adj. & pron.	Ha pochi amici a scuola.	He has few friends at school.
molto, -a, -i, -e	much, many	indef. adj. & pron.	Ci sono molte opzioni per i giovani.	There are many options for young people.
vari(e)	various	indef. adj. & pron.	Vari campi sono aperti a tutti.	Various fields are open to everyone.
parecchi(e) diversi, -e	several	indef. adj. & pron.	Puoi leggere diversi libri su questo argomento.	You can read several books on this topic.
qualsiasi	any, whichever	indef. adj. & pron.	Portami qualsiasi libro trovi.	Bring me any book you find.
alcuni, -a qualche	some, few	indef. adj. & pron.	Ho solo una casa e alcuni libri.	I only have a house and some books.
ogni ciascuno	each, every	indef. adj.	Giochiamo a calcio ogni sabato.	We play soccer every Saturday.
qualcosa	something	indef. pron.	Voglio dire qualcosa di molto importante.	I want to say something very important.
qualcuno	someone	indef. pron.	Ho parlato con qualcuno di molto interessante.	I talked with someone very interesting.
niente	nothing	indef. pron.	Oggi non farò niente tutto il giorno.	I am going to do nothing all day today.
nessuno	nobody not any	indef. pron.	Non c’è nessuno in ufficio oggi.	Nobody is in the office today.
chiunque	whoever	indef. pron.	Chiunque sia, non è importante.	Whoever it is, it is not important.

Indefinite Adjective vs. Pronoun

Note that “ogni” and “ciascuno/-a” (each) can only be used as indefinite adjectives because they are always followed by a noun.

For example, “ogni libro” (each book), “ciascun libro” (each book), “ciascun numero” (each number), “ciascuno studente” (each student), etc.

On the other hand, “qualcosa” (something), “qualcuno” (somebody), “niente” (nothing), and “nessuno” (nobody) can only be used as indefinite pronouns because they cannot be followed by a noun, e.g., “Non è successo niente” (Nothing happened).

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