“Uguale” in Italian
Meaning
As simple as it is, the Italian uguale can be translated as “identical, “the same”, and “equal”. We use it when referring to something or someone having identical characteristics as something or someone else.
In Italian, uguale is both an adverb and an adjective. As you might know by now, if used as an adverb, it does not change. Instead, if used as an adjective, it changes according to the gender and the number of the noun it accompanies.
“Uguale” as an Adjective
Uguale is one of those adjectives ending in -e that has no gender distinction. This means that it has two forms only:
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | uguale | uguale |
| Plural | uguali | uguali |
Let me show you some examples:
La legge deve essere uguale per tutti.
The law has to be equal for everyone.
Sei sicuro che questo telefono sia il tuo? Il mio è uguale.
Are you sure this mobile phone is yours? Mine is identical.
Le nostre bambine sono uguali.
Our girls are identical.
Gli stipendi sono uguali per tutti gli insegnanti.
Salaries are the same for all the teachers.
Here, uguale and uguali are adjectives. If you struggle understanding why, just do as follows: find the noun (legge, telefono, bambine, stipendi) and then ask yourself “how is it?”.
For instance: how is the law? Uguale per tutti! (Same for all). How are our girls? Uguali! (Identical).
“Uguale” as Adverb
As I mentioned before, when uguale is used as an adverb it does not change. Adverbs typically alter the meaning of verbs or adjectives, therefore make sure you find either one in the sentence to make sure you are dealing with uguale as an adverb.
Marco e Luca sono alti uguale.
Marco and Luca are as tall.
Hai fatto la torta con il cioccolato? Io l’ho fatta uguale!
Did you bake a chocolate cake? I made it identical!
Here, in the first sentence uguale refers to the adjective alto, while in the second it refers to the verb fare.
“Uguale a”
Uguale a in Italian means “equal to” or “the same as”. It is used to indicate equality or similarity between two things or people.
In this structure, uguale is still an adjective, therefore agreeing in number with the noun it describes, but it mandatorily requires the preposition a to introduce the second term of comparison.
Remember: when a preposition is followed by an article, it must change accordingly!
Questa torta è uguale a quella che ho fatto la settimana scorsa.
This cake is identical to the one I made last week.
La mia macchina è uguale alla tua.
My car is identical to yours.
I capelli tinti non sono mai uguali ai capelli naturali.
Dyed hair is never identical to natural hair.
