Italian for bad

Is the bad cat evil?

cattivo (m) = Italian for bad, naughty, unpleasant, evil

Imagine that the bad, naughty CATwoman is just CAT EVIL!

Create a memorable link between the Italian word and the English word. What does it sound like in English?

Add a picture and visualize the CATwoman being bad and evil.

Sentences - the word in action.

See and hear the word in Italian for bad - cattivo - in the context of a sentence.

La medicina ha un cattivo sapore. = The medicine has a bad taste.

Great for listening and spelling practice as well as for learning new words and expressions. Get used to hearing everyday Italian speech spoken naturally.

Access them in two ways:

While learning a new word you can just click on the cartoon to see and hear the sentence.

Alternatively, log into the Sentences Course per se, complete with kinesthetic learning lessons, tests and automated schedules.

e-Flashcardz - photographic visuals

You'll like the variety of photographic visuals in the e-Flashcards. They give you an alternative way to learn, based on the traditional Flashcards methodology.

Or, once you feel confident you know a word, switch over to Flashcards for the testing and revision stages.

Italian Adjectives

All adjectives in Italian agree in gender and number with the noun they are describing.

Most adjectives ending in -o are usually used with masculine nouns.
Most adjectives ending in -a are usually used with feminine nouns.
Most adjectives ending in -e are usually used with either noun.

cattivo is used with masculine nouns:

il cane cattivo = the evil dog.

cattiva is used with feminine nouns:

la senora cattiva = the bad lady.

la bambina cattiva = the naughty girl.

Adjectives are usually placed after the noun, although some can be used before the noun, but the meaning can change:

un amico buono = a friend who is a good person

un buon amico = a good friend, close friend

Other words (synonyms) in Italian for bad include:

brutto (brutta) = ugly, nasty, bad, bad-looking

brutto tiempo = bad weather

male (adv) = badly
andar male = to go bad, badly / to fail
il male (m) = evil

grave (adj) = bad, serious