Learn Italian suffixes: -ABILE and -IBILE

Hi, everybody! I am Luca and in this video I wanted to talk about two amazing Italian suffixes which allow us to form an adjective from a verb. The suffixes I'm referring to: are "ABILE" and "IBILE".

This video-lesson is aimed at those marvellous people who are learning Italian as a foreign language.

If you are one of them, please keep watching!

(Channel Intro)

Like I said, in this video I wanted to talk about 2 suffixes, which in fact are the same suffix. I mean, the suffix would be "-bile" preceeded by a stressed vowel, which in some cases is a stressed A, in other cases is a stressed I.

That depends on the specific verb. Strictly speaking, the suffix is the part "bile", and before that you can find, depending on the verb, a stressed A, hence "-abile", or a stressed I, hence "-ibile".

In particular, to verbs ending in "-are", that is, first conjugation verbs, we add "-abile". To all other verbs we add "-ibile". Here you can't get confused, because "-are" > "abile". All other verbs: "ibile".

Please note that it's important to remember that the vowel is stressed. It should be /àbile/ - /ìbile/.

Like I said, this suffix allows us to form an adjective from a verb. So it's an adjectival suffix, if you will.

For example, let's consider the verb "mangiare". We remove the ending "are", we add "abile", and we get "mangiabile".

Please pay special attention to the word stress, because the stress should be on the vowel before the suffix. It's not màngiabile, but mangiàbile.

What does "mangiabile" mean? "Mangiabile" means that it can be eaten.

I'll give you another example.

If we have the verb "consigliare", "consiglia", we add "-bile" and we get "consigliabile".

What does "consigliabile" mean? That it can be advised or that it should be advised. Or that it should be necessary to advise.

If we take the verb "pensare", we get "pensabile". What does "pensabile" mean? That it can be conceived.

If we take the verb "ascoltare", we get "ascoltabile". What does it mean? That it can be listened to.

Similarly, from the verb "rintracciare", I'll get "rintracciabile".

Something interesting about these adjectives is that, in front of many of these adjectives, we can add the prefix "in-" and get the opposite meaning.

So if I say "trovabile", it means that it can be found. If I say "introvabile", it means that it cannot be found.

Similarly, if I say "pensabile", I mean that it can be conceived. If I place the prefix in- in front of it, it becomes "impensabile", because the letter N turns into a M. So "impensabile" means that it cannot be conceived. Meaning it is inconceivable and nonsense.

Similarly, from "mangiabile" we get "immangiabile". What does "immangiabile" mean? That it cannot be eaten.

What's interesting is that many such negative forms are in fact more common than the positive forms.

For example, the adjective "introvabile" is surely more common than "trovabile". Or better, almost nobody says "trovabile".

The same holds true for "pensabile" and "impensabile". The word "impensabile" is undoubtedbly more common.

As for the verb "consigliare", the situation is slightly different. Because you know that we have the verb "consigliare" and the verb "sconsigliare".

So in this case, if we want to get the opposite of "consigliabile", we need to take the verb "sconsigliare". And we will get "sconsigliabile". What does "sconsigliabile" mean? That it would be better not to do. Meaning that it should be advised against.

From the verb "attaccare" we get "attaccabile". The opposite of "attaccabile" is "inattaccabile".

Another very common word is "inarrestabile". "Inarrestabile" clearly derives from the verb "arrestare", the positive form would be "arrestabile". The negative form is "inarrestabile". What does it mean? That it cannot be stopped.

From the verb "realizzare" we get "realizzabile". What does "realizzabile" mean? That it can be achieved. What's the opposite of "realizzabile"? "Irrealizzabile". So, if I say that something is "irrealizzabile", I mean that it cannot be achieved.

Next, another example: from the verb "confessare" we get "confessabile". The opposite of "confessabile" is "inconfessabile". What does "inconfessabile" mean? That it cannot be confessed. In this case as well, "inconfessabile" is surely more common than "confessabile".

From the verb "accettare" we get "accettabile". The opposite of "accettabile" is "inaccettabile". For example, if I tell someone "Questa cosa è inaccettabile", what do I mean? That this thing cannot be accepted.

Next, well, there are particular verbs, such as "fare". From the verb "fare" we get "fattibile". What does it mean? That it can be done. This adjective is very, very common. That is, if I say that something is "fattibile", I mean that this thing can be done.

For example, if I say: "Non mi sembra fattibile", I mean that this thing in my opinion cannot be done. It cannot be achieved.

This applies to verbs ending in -are. Let's move to all other verbs. Which, like I said, don't take the suffix "-abile", but use the suffix "-ibile".

For example, if we consider the verb "aprire", we get "apribile". What does "apribile" mean? That it can be opened.

Similarly, if we take the verb "chiudere", we get "chiudibile". What does it mean? That it can be closed.

Next there's the verb "richiudere" which will give us "richiudibile". "Richiudibile" is for sure more common than "chiudibile". What does "richiudibile" mean? That it can be closed again.

From the verb "sostenere", instead, we get "sostenibile". You probably know this adjective, and you know the phrase "lo sviluppo sostenibile". What does "lo sviluppo sostenibile" mean? It means: devolpment that can be sustained.

From the verb "raggiungere" we get the adjective "raggiungibile". What does "raggiungibile" mean? That it can be reached. So, if I say that these goals are "raggiungibili", I mean that they can be reached.

Remember that earlier I told you that I can add the prefix in- in front of these adjectives?

Well, if I add "in-" before "raggiungibile", I get "irraggiungibile". What does it mean? That it cannot be reached. So, If say "obiettivi irraggiungibili", I mean that these goals cannot be reached.

You might be wondering: Why do people say "irraggiungibili" and not "inraggiungibili?" Why does the N turn into a R? Simply because it is followed by a R, so the N turns into a R. I mean, it would be difficult to pronounce /inraggiungibile/.

Similarly, earlier I gave you an example with "rintracciabile", right?! If I want to get the opposite of "rintracciabile", I add in- and get "irrintracciabile". With two Rs.

From the verb "leggere" we get "leggibile". What does "leggibile" mean? That it can be read, meaning that it is comprehensible. So if someone writes "in modo leggibile", it means that we don't find it difficult to read. By contrast, if someone writes "in modo illeggibile", it means that we can't read because their writing is impossible to read.

From the verb "discutere" we get "discutibile". This adjective is very, very common and frequently used. What does "discutibile" mean? That it can be discussed. It could also mean, in theory, that it should be discussed.

If I add the prefix "in-" before "discutibile", I get "indiscutibile". If I say that something is "indiscutibile", I mean that this thing cannot be discussed, meaning that it is certain. It's not necessary to discuss about this thing. Because this thing is certain.

From the verb "difendere" we get "difendibile". The opposite of "difendibile" is "indifendibile". What does "indifendibile" mean? It means that thing cannot be defended.

Like I said, it's very often the case that negative forms are more common than positive forms. Thus, "indifendibile" is for sure more common than "difendibile". "Inattaccabile" is surely more common than "attaccabile".

From "bere" we get "bevibile". What does "bevibile" mean? That you can drink it. So, if I say that something is "bevibile", I mean that you can drink it. If I say that it is "imbevibile", though, I mean that you cannot drink it. Meaning that it tastes so disgusting that you cannot drink it.

Another thing I wanted to say is that, like I said, negative forms have mostly kept this meaning, so to speak. Some positive forms, such as "mangiabile", "bevibile", ecc. have gained a slightly different nuance in meaning.

So if I say that something is "mangiabile", I mean that, yes, I can eat that, but it's not tasty.

Similarly, if I say "è bevibile", I mean that this drink, this cocktail, I don't know, something like that, is drinkable in the sense that I can drink it. That is, if I drink it, I won't end up in the hospital. But it's not good. That is, it tastes disgusting.

Well, something else to pay attention to is the fact that, in the case of some verbs, consonant alternation may occur.

For example, from "riprodurre" we get "riproducibile", from "ammettere" we get "ammissibile", from "comprendere" we get "comprensibile".

Lastly, I wanted to say this. I gave you a number of practical examples. Generally speaking, I'd say that from many verbs you can get this type of adjectives. Not from all verbs, obviously.

So, well, I would recommend that you stick to the examples I gave you. You shouldn't excessively extend this suffix to other verbs. For sure this suffix cannot be extended to intransitive verbs such as "dormire". We can't say "dormibile". Or "venire", we can't say "venibile".

Because for reasons related to meaning we need a transitive verb. Because if I say that something is "mangiabile", I mean that it can be eaten. Thus, the subject becomes passive.

Well, let's say that I wanted to explain these suffixes to you not because I want to invite you to extend them to all verbs, but to help you understand that some adjectives that you may already know in fact have been formed in this way in the past.

Well, that is it!

I hope that this video has been helpful and tell you goodbye!