In Italian, as in English, opposites of adjectives, nouns or verbs can be formed using different prefixes.
Most of the prefixes used are common to both languages:
anti-
dis-
il-
im-
in-
ir-
s-
I can see one prefix in this list that doesn’t seem as if it would be used much in English.
Can you?
Some students and teachers find it helpful to know these ‘rules of word formation’:
- im- is used with words that begin with p-, o- or m-
- il- is used with words that begin with l-
- ir- is used with words that begin with r-
Here are some examples:
fortunato – sfortunato
approvare – disapprovare
democratico – antidemocratico
discutibile – indiscutibile
rispettoso – irrispettoso
legale – illegale
possibile – impossibile
mortale – immortale
The opposites of some words change completely, rather than being formed with prefixes:
maggioranza – minoranza
educazione – maleducazione
moderno – antico
dolce – amaro
In other cases, rather than using a prefix, or changing the word completely, we just add “non” before the word.
violento – non violento
evidente – non evidente
Below are some further examples of opposites (also known as ‘antonyms’).
Why not take them, along with the examples above, and organise them in a way that is meaningful to you?
[normal] normale – anormale
[nice] simpatico – antipatico
[democratic] democratico – antidemocratico
[approve] approvare – disapprovare
[approval] consenso – dissenso
[agreement] accordo – disaccordo
[alert] attento – disattento
[pleasure] piacere – dispiacere
[inhibited] inibito – disinibito
[grace] grazia – disgrazia
[attention] attenzione – disattenzione
[interest] interesse – disinteresse
[invest] investire – disinvestire
[lawful] lecito – illecito
[pure] puro – impuro
[mature] maturo – immaturo
[morality] moralità – immoralità
[mortal] mortale – immortale
[effective] efficace – inefficace
[auspicious] fausto – infausto
[balance] equilibrio – inequilibrio
[experience] esperienza – inesperienza
[comprehensible] comprensibile – incomprensibile
[valid] valido – invalido
[safe] sicuro – insicuro
[capable] capace – incapace
[coherent] coerente – incoerente
[dubious] discutibile – indiscutibile
[conceivable] concepibile – inconcepibile
[happiness] felicità – infelicità
[acceptable] accettabile – inaccettabile
[appropriate] adeguato – inadeguato
[national] nazionale – internazionale
[sufficient] sufficiente – insufficiente
[gratitude] gratitudine – ingratitudine
[faithful] fedele – infedele
[corteous] cortese – scortese
[common sense] razionalità – irrazionalità
[regular] regolare – irregolare
[violent] violento – non violento
[post-revolutionary] post-revoluzionario – pre-revoluzionario
[lucky] fortunato – sfortunato
[confidence] fiducia – sfiducia
[to compose] comporre – scomporre
[favour] favore- sfavore
sbagliato – giusto
[benevolent] benevolo – malevolo
[majority] maggioranza – minoranza
[love] amore – odio
[developed] sviluppato – sottosviluppato
[good] buono – cattivo
[dirty] sporco – pulito
[excellent] ottimo – pessimo
[strong] forte – debole
[urban] urbano – interurbano
[daytime] diurno – notturno
[arrival] arrivo – partenza
[included] incluso – escluso
[increase] aumentare – diminuire
Want to practice?
Try these free exercises:
