An Adjective After a Noun

An attributive adjective generally follows its noun. Select its masculine singular, feminine singular or plural form as appropriate. Compare kappell sabiħ, “a beautiful hat,” pittura sabiħa, “a beautiful painting,” and kotba sbieħ, “beautiful books.” The descriptive meaning stays the same while agreement changes the form.

Some adjectives are invariant: interessanti has the same spelling with masculine, feminine and plural nouns. Definite descriptions commonly repeat the article on the adjective, but Maltese also permits articleless attributive adjectives after definite nouns. Article repetition is therefore not an exceptionless agreement rule.

Predicative adjectives describe a subject at clause level instead of forming a description inside a noun phrase. A few attributive adjectives, and inflected comparatives, precede the noun. Selected adjectives also allow an -a-shaped form with plural nouns. These are restricted patterns, not permission to move or reshape every adjective freely.