How do you say short in Italian?
Corto
Use corto to say short in Italian when you are talking about clothes, hair, and general lengths.
| Origin | From the Latin word apertus, p.p. of curtum, meaning “truncated” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkorto/ |
Corto
Short
Short in Italian: Different forms
Like all other adjectives in Italian, short needs to match the gender (masculine or feminine) and the number (singular or plural) of the noun.
| Singular | Plural | |
| Masculine | Corto | Corti |
| Feminine | Corta | Corte |
Short in Italian: Examples
Queste gonne che ho comprato sono troppo corte.
These skirts I bought are too short!
Mia zia ha i capelli molto corti.
These skirts I bought are too short!
(Capelli, hair, is a masculine plural noun in Italian!)
La mia scarpa è più corta della tua. Che numero porti?
My shoe is shorter than yours. What size do you wear?
Basso
Basso is the adjective you need to use to translate short in Italian when talking about people and buildings. This word can also translate the English adjective low.
Basso
Short, low
Basso also needs to match the noun in gender and number.
| Singular | Plural | |
| Masculine | Basso | Bassi |
| Feminine | Bassa | Basse |
For example, you can say…
Le mie sorelle sono tutte più basse di me.
My sisters are all shorter than me.
Viviamo in quel basso edificio con il tetto piatto.
We live in that low building with the flat roof.
Sono troppo bassa per raggiungere lo scaffale più alto della libreria.
I am too small to reach the top shelf of the bookcase.
Breve
Breve is the Italian word for short when you’re talking about roads, paths, and speeches.
Breve
Short
Breve has only two forms because adjectives ending in -e in Italian are the same for both genders.
| Singular | Plural | |
| Masculine | Breve | Brevi |
| Feminine | Breve | Brevi |
For example, you can say…
Qual è il tragitto più breve per arrivare in centro?
What is the shortest way to get to the city center?
Il sindaco tenne un breve discorso.
The mayor made a short speech.
La strada che costeggia la spiaggia è più breve dell’altra.
The road that runs along the beach is shorter than the other.
More free Italian resources
You might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
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