Italian adjectives: Italian grammar lesson 196

Start here

You’ll receive my free resources together with my best offers! Opt out at any time.

Create a free lifetime account to get access to all the free lesson and other resources.

I’ll take you to your shiny new student dashboard.

What are the adjectives ending in -bile?

In Italian, there are groups of adjectives that have the same ending. In this case, we’re going to focus on those ending in -bile (either –able or –ible).

This specific ending comes from Latin and refers to the possibility or the ability to have a specific characteristic.

Their equivalents in English usually end in -ble (also either -able or -ible) so they are easy to recognize and learn. Here’s a list of common adjectives ending in -bile:

  • accessibile: accessible
  • accettabile: acceptable
  • compatibile: compatible
  • comprensibile: comprehensible
  • concepibile: conceivable
  • credibile: credible
  • desiderabile: desirable
  • paragonabile: comparable
  • possibile: possible
  • responsabile: responsible
  • sensibile: sensitive (if you want to say sensible, then you can say sensato)
  • vulnerabile: vulnerable

Practice with Quizlet

Here's a set of flashcards and quizzes to practice this grammar topic.

What are the adjectives starting with in-, im-, ir- and ending in -bile?

Italian adjectives

Like in English, in Italian we can say the opposite of an adjective just by adding two letters at the beginning of it: either in-im-, or -ir. Think of the words possible vs. impossible, or credible vs. incredible.

It’s the same logic in Italian. We tend to use in- much more often than im-.

However, there are some exceptions: im- is usually added to those adjectives starting with a “p” or an “m“.

Free Guide
How to Learn Languages Fast

There is a much less common one which is ir- for those words starting with an “r“. We’ll give you the opposite of the first five adjectives that we saw above.

We’ll leave the rest to you. Make sure you apply the rules we just gave you.

  • inaccessibile: inaccessible
  • inaccettabile: inacceptable
  • incompatibile: incompatible
  • incomprensibile: incomprehensible
  • inconcepibile: inconceivable

Still translating in your head? Wanna speak Italian for real? Check out Stefano's courses to think directly in Italian and become fluent fast!

FAQs on Italian adjectives: Italian grammar lesson 196

Stefano

Italian language tutor, course author, and polyglot. After learning 12 languages, I can tell you that we all master languages by listening and mimicking. With my method, you'll be speaking Italian from Lesson 1.

Follow me to fluency​

Receive my free resources once a week together with my best offers! 

Create a free lifetime account to get access to all the free lesson and other resources.

I’ll take you to your shiny new student dashboard.

Leave a Reply

Share:

Still translating in your head?

Wanna speak Italian for real? Check out Stefano’s courses to think directly in Italian and become fluent fast!
[mwai_chatbot_v2 id="support"]
Try my courses
for free​
ripeti con me mockup sm

Let me show you around

How long to fluency?

Find out how long it will take you to master Italian!
Get on the right track in 3 minutes.

dolce vita logo

We're already friends!

Coming from Luca and Marina?
Here's a special deal for you!
Just tell me where I should send the coupon.

50% OFF
all language resources

We're already friends!

Coming from All Language Resources?
Here's a special deal for you!
Just tell me where I should send the coupon.

50% OFF
GRAB A COUPON NOW, REDEEM IT LATER
50% OFF

To receive free resources once a week together with my best offers, just tell me where to send everything. Opt out at any time.

Create a free lifetime account to get access to all the free lesson and other resources.

I’ll take you to your shiny new student dashboard.