A common error in the use of the word MOLTO

This video is for those who are learning Italian as a foreign language and would like to learn Italian well.

In this video I'm gonna discuss a mistake that is made quite often by non-native speakers studying Italian.

This error is related to the word MOLTO. Or rather, to be more specific, this mistake involves mixing up the adverb "molto" and the adjective "molto", "molta", "molti", "molte".

By watching this video, you will learn how to use the word "molto" like a pro!

Hi, everybody! I'm Luca and in this video I wanted to talk about an error that is quite common and is related to the word "molto".

I'll give you an example straight away, so that you understand what error I'm talking about.

For instance, let's consider the sentence "Le tue camicie sono molte belle".

Or: "Le tue cravatte sono molte belle".

Or: "Le tue lezioni sono molte lunghe".

Or we could think about a sentence such as "I miei libri sono molti vecchi".

Or: "I miei amici sono molti simpatici".

What's the issue with these sentences? The issue with them is that the word "molto" is not used correctly. It's used incorrectly.

The thing is, the word "molto" is actually... 3 different words used in different ways.

Let's start from the simplest case, that is, from the word "molti". Just the plural form.

(The word) "molti" can be used in place of "molte persone". Meaning many people, a big group of people.

For instance, if I say:

"Molti pensano che studiare la grammatica sia inutile".

"Molti pensano che studiare la grammatica sia dannoso".

In this case, the word "molti" means many people, a lot of people, a big group of people. So not only one individual, but many people. "Molti" typically means not a small group, but a big group of people.

I'd say that the masculine form is much more common (in general). If you want, you could also use the feminine form in certain cases. If we are talking about a group of women, then we could say "Molte pensano che...". However, the masculine is used more frequently, "Molti pensano che..." In these cases, in Italian we use the masculine word.

The plural masculine is perceived to be as gender-neutral, so to speak. It's obvious that, if I'm addressing a group of women, then I can say: "Molte di voi hanno detto che..." Otherwise, it would sound a bit weird saying "Molte pensano che la grammatica sia dannosa".

Well, anyway, this was the simplest case, which doesn't usually create issues. Basically, "molti" is the same as "tante persone".

But let's now move on to 2 cases creating confusion.

Alright. Thing is, the Italian word "molto" can be used either as an adverb to augment a given adjective, or as an adjective with 4 forms (i.e. "molto", "molta", "molti", "molte"), to point to a large amount.

So in one case "molto" as an adverb augments a given quality, in the other case, as an adjective, "molto" refers to quantity.

The most important thing to remember is this. That, if I use "molto" in reference to a quality to augment such quality, "molto" is an adverb, so it's invariable, it only has one form, i.e. "molto".

If I have a feminine adjective, for example "bella", and a sentence such as "Questa camicia è bella", and I want to use "molto" to augment the adjective "bella", my sentence would be: "Questa camicia è molto bella". However, as you can see, even if I have a feminine noun, the word "molto" remains unchanged. "Molto" used as an adverb will always be "Molto".

So, to get back to the incorrect examples I gave you in the beginning, I referred to this sentence: "Queste camicie sono molte belle". It should be: "Queste camicie sono molto belle".

Similarly, if we take the sentence "Queste cravatte sono molte belle", this sentence is clearly incorrect. Why? Because we should not use "molte", but "molto". So the (correct) sentence would be "Queste cravatte sono molto belle".

I also made an example involving books, if my memory serves me right, that was "Questi libri sono molti belli". The correct sentence would be: "Questi libri sono molto belli". You see? In this case I have a masculine plural adjective, but "molto" remains unchanged and I say "molto".

The various forms of "molto" (MOLTA, MOLTE e MOLTI) are only used whenever "molto" is used as an adjective, in reference to quantity.

So this is the most important difference. That, if we talk about quality and use this word for augmenting, "molto" is an invariable adverb. By contrast, if we talk about quantity and use this word as an adjective, "molto" should agree with the noun it refers to.

So, for instance, I could say something along these lines "Ho molte camicie". In this case, the word "molte" is an adjective and refers to quantity, not to quality. What does "Ho molte camicie" mean? It means: "Ho tante camicie". That is: I have a large number of shirts.

Similarly, I could say: "Ho molte cravatte". As you see: feminine plural noun, I need a feminine plural adjective. So "cravatte" > "molte". What does "Ho molte cravatte" mean? It means: Possiedo tante cravatte. I.e. I have a large amount of ties.

If I have a masculine plural noun such as "libri", my sentence would be: "Ho molti libri". In this case, I have: libri, molti.

However, if I have a feminine singular noun such as "pasta", I should say, for instance: "Ho mangiato molta pasta".

Or, if I have a feminine noun such as "fame" - you surely know the phrase "Ho fame", right? - in this case, we can say: "Ho molta fame". In this case "molta fame". Why so? Because this noun is feminine.

The same goes for "Ho molta sete". Why so? Because "sete" is a feminine noun.

If I have a masculine singular noun such as "tempo", I should say: "Ho aspettato molto tempo". Or: "Ho molto sonno".

But in this case there's no problem at all because in any case the masculine singular form matches the adverb's form. So in this case there's no problem at all.

Here you can find a card to a playlist I created and in which I grouped the most common errors in Italian. In this playlist I grouped, so to speak, the mistakes that are most frequently made by foreigners learning the Italian language. Check it out!

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