Italian Word Formation

Italian word formation is a common topic of high-intermediate and advanced Italian CEFR exams.

In word formation, given a simple word, also known as a root word, you get another word by adding suffixes, prefixes, or another word altogether. This process also exists in English. Consider the following:

Caldo, calore, scaldare
Hot, heat, to heat

Amico, amicizia, amichevole
Friend, friendship, friendly

This lesson is quite long. Use the table of contents below to navigate through its contents.

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Italian word formation

Let’s talk about word types

First, you must know that there are three types of words in Italian:

• parole semplici, simple words
• parole derivate, derived words
• parole composte, compound words

Simple words are words that do not come from another Italian word. These are also called root words. Examples of root words are bello or alto.

Simple words don’t like to feel lonely. That’s why they have families, famiglie. A “word family”, a famiglia di parole, is made up of all possible derived and compound words of that given root word.

A word family is like a spiderweb. The little spider at its center is the root word. Then the web branches out: these are the derived and compound words.

For example, for the adjective bello, “nice, beautiful”, I can think of these other words:

• bellezza, beauty
• bellissimo, very beautiful
• belloccio, beautiful guy
• abbellire, to embellish
• abbellimento, embellishment
• … and more!

Part of the “spiderweb” for bello could look like this…

Now, root words are heavily used to create derived words. This is done with the help of prefixes and suffixes. See how in the next section.

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Derived words

Derived words are formed from another word + a prefix/suffix. Examples of derived words are:

• pizzeria (pizza + suffix -ria)
• sporcizia (sporco + suffix -izia)
• rifare (prefix ri- + fare)
• giornalista (giornale + suffix -lista, note that giornale is made up of giorno + suffix -ale)

The existence of longer derived words such as giornalista above means that you can derive words from another derived word. Some derived words can even have a prefix and a suffix, especially verbs.

Italian word formation with prefixes

A prefix is attached to the beginning of a word. The “pre” cluster in prefix is in itself a prefix, with the meaning of “before”. The Italian translation of “prefix” is prefisso.

Prefixes can be attached to nouns, verbs, and adjectives to form derived words. They don’t cause words to change category: nouns will remain nouns, verbs will remain verbs, and so on.

Let’s see the most common prefixes in Italian (I won’t add a few that are uncommon).

Prefix	Meaning	Example
a-	negation	atono
a-	action	addolcire
an-	negation	anallergico
ante-	before	antenato
anti-	before	antipasto
anti-	against	antifurto
avan-	before	avanscoperta
arci-	much	arcinemico
ben-	well	benvoluto
co-	with	coinquilino
col/m/n/r-	with	corrispondere
contra-	against	contraddire
contro-	against	controvoglia
de-	negation	decrescere
dis-	negation	disgusto
extra-	much	extravergine
extra-	outside	extraterrestre
fuori-	outside	fuorilegge
in-	negation	infinito
in(n)-	ongoing action	innamorarsi
inter-	between	intervenire
intra-	inside	intravedere
iper-	much	ipercritico
iper-	above	ipertensione
ipo-	below	ipotermia
mal-	bad	malocchio
multi-	many	multiforme
neo-	new	neorealismo
non-	negation	noncurante
pre-	before	preavviso
re-	again	revisionare
retro-	behind	retroscena
ri-	again	rivedere
s-	negation	sgarbato
sopra-	above	soprannome
sotto-	below	sottomarino
sovra-	above	sovraccarico
stra-	extremely	stracolmo
super-	above	supermercato
ultra-	extremely	ultrasottile

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Italian word formation with suffixes

A suffix is attached to the end of a word.

Just like in English, what starts as a noun can become an adjective (friend > friendly). What starts as an adjective may become a noun (weak > weakness), etc. This depends on the suffix itself. For example, English words ending in -ness are nouns.

Suffixes can be attached to nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives to form derived words. Let’s see the most common suffixes in Italian (I won’t add a few that are uncommon).

In the table below, I added a fourth column:

• N means that the suffix creates a noun
• V means that the suffix creates a verb
• Av means that the suffix creates an adverb
• Aj means that the suffix creates an adjective

Suffix	Meaning	Example
-abile	“that who is or can do”	affidabile	Aj
-aceo	of, related to	violaceo	Aj
-aggio	no meaning	coraggio	N
-aio/a	worker	fioraio	N
-aio	container	pollaio	N
-aiolo	worker	vignaiolo	N
-ale	of, related to	invernale	Aj
-ame	collection	pollame	N
-aneo	of, related to	estraneo	Aj
-ano/a	origin	americano	Aj
-ante	“that who does or is”	abbondante	N, Aj
-anza	abstract noun	fratellanza	N
-are	of, related to	lunare	Aj
-are	verb	sporcare	V
-ario	worker	bibliotecario	N
-ario	collection	armamentario	N
-ario	of, related to	leggendario	Aj
-ata	various	pallonata	N
-ato	various	campionato	N
-ente	“that who does or is”	paziente	N, Aj
-enza	abstract noun	pazienza	N
-eria	working place	pizzeria	N
-eria	abstract noun	porcheria	N
-eria	collection	biancheria	N
-esco	various	scimmiesco	Aj
-ese	origin	milanese	Aj
-esimo	faith	cristianesimo	N
-esimo	ordinal number	undicesimo	Aj
-età	abstract noun	contrarietà	N
-eto/a	plantation	frutteto	N
-evole	“that who is or can do”	cedevole	Aj
-ezza	abstract noun	bellezza	N
-ia	emotion	allegria	N
-ia	abstract noun	astuzia	N
-ibile	“that who is or can do”	irascibile	Aj
-ico	of, related to	desertico	Aj
-iera	container	teiera	N
-iere/a	worker	infermiera	N
-ificio	working place	zuccherificio	N
-ino	worker	bagnino	N
-ino/a	origin	piacentino	Aj
-io	action	pigolio	N
-ire	verb	chiarire	V
-ismo	phenomena	magnetismo	N
-ismo	philosophy	fascismo	N
-ismo	preference	maschilismo	N
-ista	worker, follower	dentista	N
-ita	abstract noun	dormita	N
-ità	abstract noun	capacità	N
-itudine	abstract noun	altitudine	N
-ivo	of, aimed at	sportivo	N, Aj
-izzare	verb	socializzare	V
-izia	abstract noun	sporcizia	N
-mente	adverb	velocemente	Av
-mento	abstract noun	peggioramento	N
-ore	abstract noun	amore	N
-oso	“having this quality”	fumoso	Aj
-sione	abstract noun	accensione	N
-tà	abstract noun	libertà	N
-tore	“that who does”	lavoratore	N
-torio	place	dormitorio	N
-ume	collection (bad)	viscidume	N
-ura	abstract action	cottura	N
-uta	noun from verb	venuta	N
-zione	abstract noun	negazione	N

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Italian word formation in science

Scientific words also feature suffixes that have a specific meaning.

Suffix	Meaning	Example
-acea	plant	graminacea
-algia	pain	fibromalgia
-iatra	doctor	pediatra
-ide	animal	canide
-ide	chemical element	anidride
-ino	animal	bovino
-logo	doctor	podologo
-ite	sudden inflammation	artrite
-osi	chronic inflammation	artrosi
-oma	tumor	sarcoma

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Other suffixes

There are a few words that don’t seem to have suffixes at all. These are words that are derived from verbs and usually end in -o or -a, for example:

• calma (calm, peace)
• modifica (change, modification)
• sosta (pause, break)
• accordo (agreement)
• conteggio (tally, count)

There is yet another kind of suffix in Italian word formation that creates parole alterate, “altered words”. These suffixes, unlike the others we’ve seen, don’t change the meaning of the word. They describe it as smaller than usual, bigger than usual, nice, ugly, etc. These are descriptive suffixes.

For example, let’s take cane, dog. We can say:

• cane, dog
• cagnone, big dog
• cagnolino, small and cute dog
• cagnaccio, bad dog

Some common words can also feature two descriptive suffixes in a row: boccettina, from boccia + etta + ina.

Let’s see the most common descriptive suffixes (not all!) in the table below.

Suffix	Meaning	Example
-acchiotto/a	small or bad	fessacchiotta
-accio/a	bad, nasty	gattaccio
-aglia	collection of junk	ferraglia
-astro/a	nasty thing	furbastro
-one/a	big	librone
-ello/a	small	asinello
-etto/a	small and cute	orsetto
-iccio/a	bad	malaticcio
-icciolo/a	small and bad	festicciola
-iciattolo/a	sth unimportant	fiumiciattolo
-ino/a	small	tavolino
-ognolo/a	somewhat bad	giallognolo
-otto/a	affection	giovanotto
-uccio/a	cozy and tender	calduccio
-ucolo/a	sth unimportant	attorucolo
-uolo/a	sth unimportant	faccenduola
-uzzo/a	sth unimportant	pagliuzza

This is an advanced topic, but it’s worth knowing about nonetheless. Verbs can also use descriptive suffixes to change their shade of meaning. Here are some:

Suffix	Meaning	Example
-acchiare	bad action	sputacchiare
-azzare	bad action	scopiazzare
-ellare	small, ongoing action	saltellare
-erellare	small, ongoing action	bucherellare
-ettare	small, ongoing action	scoppiettare
-icchiare	bad action	dormicchiare

There is so much more to say about suffixes that describe nouns. Learn here how to use descriptive suffixes in Italian.

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Compound words

Compound words are made up of at least two words. Examples of compound words are capostazione (capo + stazione), lavapiatti (lava + piatti), videochiamata (video + chiamata).

Some compound words are formed by two complete words, like the ones above. Their plural can be tough to learn.

Some other compound words, however, use prefixes or suffixes (these usually come from Latin or Greek), for example:

• biblioteca (biblio is not a complete word)
• televisione (tele is not a complete word)
• topicida (cida is not a complete word)

Prefixes in compound words

The following table lists the most common prefixes that are used in compound words.

Prefix	Meaning	Example
aero-	air	aeroplano
auto-	self	autocontrollo
biblio-	book	biblioteca
cosmo-	universe	cosmonauta
demo-	people	democrazia
eco-	environment	ecosistema
filo-	lover	filodrammatico
mega-	big	megabyte
mono-	one	monopattino
poli-	many	policlinico
psico-	mind	psicologia
tele-	far, distance	televisione

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Suffixes in compound words

The following table lists the most common suffixes that are used in compound words.

Suffix	Meaning	Example
-cida	killer	topicida
-crate	“that who has power”	burocrate
-crazia	power	burocrazia
-filo	lover	cinofilo
-fobia	fear	idrofobia
-fugo	“that who prevents”	ignifugo
-logia	study, discipline	erpetologia
-mania	un/healthy passion	mitomania
-patia	illness or emotion	retinopatia
-teca	storing place	biblioteca
-voro	“that who eats”	carnivoro

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Dirty tricks and tips for Italian word formation

If you know a bit of Italian already, you may have noticed that many English words ending in -tion end in -zione in Italian:

• selezione (selection)
• educazione (education)
• illuminazione (illumination)

And many words ending in -ty in English end in -tà in Italian:

• libertà (liberty)
• maturità (maturity)
• povertà (poverty)

These words share their origin, so there are similarities between the two languages.

Other times, however, things are completely different: velocità, speed.

So in the following paragraphs, we will cover some “rules of thumb” you can apply in case you have no idea how to turn an Italian word into something else based on what you already know.

-er/or

Nouns ending in -er/or in English often end in -(t)ore/iere in Italian.

English	Italian
Worker	Lavoratore
Miner	Minatore
Banker	Banchiere
Doctor	Dottore
Actor	Attore
Motor	Motore
Author	Autore
Alligator	Alligatore
Creator	Creatore
Color	Colore

Some exceptions are:

• Umorismo (humor)
  Umore = mood
• Comportamento (behavior)

Also note that some words can change root. Worker = lavoratore, from lavoro, “work”.

Always consult a dictionary!

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-tion

Nouns ending in -tion in English often end in -zione in Italian.

English	Italian
Education	Educazione
Selection	Selezione
Nation	Nazione
Exclamation	Esclamazione
Potion	Pozione
Celebration	Celebrazione
Situation	Situazione
Emotion	Emozione
Admiration	Ammirazione
Attention	Attenzione

Some exceptions are:

• Durata (duration)
  NOT durazione
• Abominio (abomination)
  NOT abominazione
• Rapimento (abduction)
  Adduzione = adduction
• Asta (auction)
  Auzione is deprecated

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-ty

Nouns ending in -(ili)ty in English often end in -(ili)tà in Italian.

English	Italian
Liberty	Libertà
Property	Proprietà
Cruelty	Crudeltà
Difficulty	Difficoltà
Honesty	Onestà
Humanity	Umanità
Authority	Autorità
Curiosity	Curiosità
Quality	Qualità
Humidity	Umidità
City	Città
Possibility	Possibilità
Visibility	Visibilità
Sensibility	Sensibilità
Probability	Probabilità

Some exceptions are:

• Carie (tooth cavity)
  Cavità = hole, recess
• Sicurezza (safety)
  From sicuro, “safe”
• Ansia (anxiety)
  Ansietà exists but it’s not used
• Bellezza (beauty)
• Dovere (duty)
• Uguaglianza (equality)
  Equalità exists but it’s not used
• Modestia (modesty)
  NOT modestà

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-nce

Nouns ending in -nce in English often end in -nza in Italian.

English	Italian
Patience	Pazienza
Innocence	Innocenza
Elegance	Eleganza
Evidence	Evidenza
Sequence	Sequenza
Presence	Presenza
Importance	Importanza
Convenience	Convenienza
Absence	Assenza
Violence	Violenza
Existence	Esistenza
Science	Scienza

Some exceptions are:

• Difesa (defense)
  NOT defense/difenza
• Silenzio (silence)
  NOT silenza
• Pubblico (audience)
  Udienza = meeting, hearing

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-ment

Nouns ending in -ment in English often end in -mento in Italian. Many words don’t share a root, however, and many others are completely different, so be careful.

English	Italian
Lament	Lamento
Payment	Pagamento
Document	Documento
Parliament	Parlamento
Instrument	Strumento
Movement	Movimento
Apartment	Appartamento
Moment	Momento
Torment	Tormento
Element	Elemento
Appointment	Appuntamento

Some exceptions are:

• Spedizione (shipment)
  NOT spedimento
• Meraviglia (amazement)
• Cantina, seminterrato (basement)
  Basamento = base, pedestal
• Abbandono (abandonment)
  Abbandonamento is deprecated
• Balsamo (ointment)
• Annuncio (announcement)
  NOT annunciamento
• Delusione (disappointment)
• Espulsione, esilio (banishment)
  NOT bannamento
• Accordo (agreement)
• Risultato, conquista (achievement)
• Impegno (commitment)
• Pubblicità (advertisement)
• Allegato (email attachment)
  Attaccamento = bond, emotional attachment

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-able

Quite a few adjectives ending in -ble in English end in -bile in Italian. Many roots change.

English	Italian
Usable	Utilizzabile
Doable	Fattibile
Washable	Lavabile
Wearable	Indossabile
Adorable	Adorabile
Miserable	Miserabile
Stable	Stabile
Reliable	Affidabile
Moveable	Movibile
Flammable	Infiammabile

Some exceptions are:

• Capace (capable)
  NOT capabile
• Incapace (incapable)
  NOT incapabile
• Prezioso (valuable)
  Valutabile = evaluable, assessable
• Rilevante, notevole (notable)
  Notabile is almost always used to translate “prominent, well-known”

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-sion

Nouns ending in -sion in English often end in -sione in Italian.

English	Italian
Vision	Visione
Mission	Missione
Decision	Decisione
Compassion	Compassione
Comprehension	Comprensione
Tension	Tensione
Confusion	Confusione
Explosion	Esplosione
Passion	Passione

Some exceptions are:

• Permesso (permission)
  NOT permissione, it exists but it’s not used
• Impulso, pulsione (compulsion)
  Compulsione, compulsività = compulsiveness
• Possesso (possession)
  NOT possessione, it exists but it’s not used

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-ism

Nouns ending in -ism in English often end in -ismo in Italian.

English	Italian
Fascism	Fascismo
Buddhism	Buddismo
Racism	Razzismo
Capitalism	Capitalismo
Egoism	Egoismo
Altruism	Altruismo
Heroism	Eroismo
Autism	Autismo
Atheism	Ateismo
Cynicism	Cinismo

An exception is:

• Battesimo (baptism)

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-ist

Nouns ending in -ist in English often end in -ista in Italian.

English	Italian
Journalist	Giornalista
Dentist	Dentista
Capitalist	Capitalista
Narcissist	Narcisista
Activist	Attivista
Pianist	Pianista
Artist	Artista
Cyclist	Ciclista
Alchemist	Alchimista
Protagonist	Protagonista

Some exceptions are:

• Ateo (atheist)
  Ateista exists but it’s uncommon
• Biologo (biologist)
  NOT biologista, although it exists
• Sadico (sadist)
  NOT sadista
• Chimico (chemist)
• Botanico (botanist)
  Botanista exists but it’s uncommon

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-ly

Adverbs that end in ly in English often end in -mente in Italian.

English	Italian
Directly	Direttamente
Generally	Generalmente
Naturally	Naturalmente
Totally	Totalmente

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-al

Adjectives ending in -al in English often end in -ale in Italian.

English	Italian
Brutal	Brutale
Annual	Annuale
Informal	Informale
Animal	Animale
Legal	Legale
Personal	Personale
Final	Finale
Local	Locale
Central	Centrale
Horizontal	Orizzontale

Some exceptions are:

• Magico (magical)
  NOT magicale
• Medico (medical)
  NOT medicale
• Logico (logical)
  NOT logicale
• Identico (identical)
• Classico (classical)
  NOT classicale
• Emotivo (emotional, sensitive)
  Emozionale = “sth involving emotions”
• Immaginario, finto (fictional)

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-ic

Adjectives ending in -ic(al) in English often end in -ico in Italian.

English	Italian
Automatic	Automatico
Economic	Economico
Ironic	Ironico
Public	Pubblico
Typical	Tipico
Political	Politico

An exception is:

• Basilare (basic)
  Basico is used in chemistry

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-an

Adjectives ending in -an in English often end in -ano/a in Italian.

English	Italian
American	Americano
Italian	Italiano
Australian	Australiano
Human	Umano
Christian	Cristiano
Urban	Urbano
Orphan	Orfano
Ocean	Oceano

Some exceptions are:

• Tedesco (German)
  Germano = ancient northern European
• Civile (civilian)
  NOT civiliano
• Barbaro (barbarian)
  NOT barbariano
• Anfibio (amphibian)
  NOT anfibiano
• Europeo (European)
  NOT europeano
• Musicista (musician)

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-ous

Adjectives ending in -ous in English often end in -oso/a in Italian.

English	Italian
Famous	Famoso
Glorious	Glorioso
Nervous	Nervoso
Jealous	Geloso
Generous	Generoso
Disastrous	Disastroso
Precious	Prezioso
Religious	Religioso

• Ridicolo (ridiculous)
  NOT ridicoloso, deprecated
• Tremendo (tremendous)
  NOT tremendoso
• Enorme (enormous)
  NOT enormoso
• Cauto (cautious)
  NOT cautoso
• Simultaneo (simultaneous)
  NOT simultaneoso

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-ate

Adjectives ending in -ate in English often end in -ato/a in Italian.

English	Italian
Isolate	Isolato
Appropriate	Appropriato
Adequate	Adeguato
Delicate	Delicato
Deliberate	Deliberato
Accurate	Accurato

Some exceptions are:

• Affettuoso (affectionate)
  Affezionato = emotionally attached
• Compassionevole (compassionate)
  NOT compassionato
• Cortese, premuroso (considerate)
  Considerato = considered, evaluated

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-y

Weather adjectives ending in -y in English often end in -oso/a in Italian.

English	Italian
Cloudy	Nuvoloso
Rainy	Piovoso
Smoky	Fumoso
Hazy	Nebbioso

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-ness and -ship

Nouns ending in -ness and -ship are tricky. In Italian, they usually end with a suffix that is used for abstract nouns, but no rule of thumb makes it easy for you to guess which one it is. Words rarely share a root. Examples:

English	Italian
Dryness	Secchezza
Madness	Pazzia
Darkness	Oscurità
Awareness	Consapevolezza
Illness	Malattia
Bitterness	Amarezza
Wetness	Umidità
Hardship	Avversità
Ownership	Proprietà
Censorship	Censura
Friendship	Amicizia
Internship	Apprendistato
Membership	Iscrizione
Citizenship	Cittadinanza

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-ary

Nouns ending in -ary often end in -ario in Italian.

English	Italian
Dictionary	Dizionario
Sanctuary	Santuario
Anniversary	Anniversario
Vocabulary	Vocabolario

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-ive

Adjectives ending in -ive often end in -ivo in Italian.

English	Italian
Offensive	Offensivo
Passive	Passivo
Active	Attivo
Aggressive	Aggressivo

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-ect

Adjectives ending in -ect often end in -etto in Italian.

English	Italian
Perfect	Perfetto
Direct	Diretto
Correct	Corretto

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-cate

Verbs ending in -cate often end in -care in Italian.

English	Italian
Educate	Educare
Indicate	Indicare
Complicate	Complicare

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-ize/ise/yze/yze

Verbs ending in -ize/ise/yze/yze often end in -izzare in Italian.

English	Italian
Analyze	Analizzare
Minimize	Minimizzare
Organize	Organizzare

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Italian word formation VS English word formation: A recap

As our lesson is getting quite long, let’s review the main tricks we have seen so far.

You can also download this list as a handy PDF cheatsheet.

English	Italian
-er/or	-(t)ore/iere
-tion	-zione
-(ili)ty	-(ili)tà
-nce	-nza
-ment	-mento
-ble	-bile
-sion	-sione
-ism	-ismo
-ist	-ista
-al	-ale
-an	-ano/a
-ous	-oso/a
-ate	-ato/a
-y (weather)	-oso/a
-ness, -ship	… good luck

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