questi

Questi is the masculine plural form of the Italian demonstrative adjective and pronoun meaning “these.” It is used to indicate items or people that are close to the speaker and can function either as a determiner before a noun or as a stand-alone pronoun.

As a determiner, questi agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. Examples: questi libri (these books), questi ragazzi (these boys). The corresponding feminine plural form is queste (before feminine nouns: queste case, queste idee). The singular forms are questo (masc. sing.) and questa (fem. sing.).

As a pronoun, questi can refer to a set of items or people without repeating a noun: Questi sono i miei amici. The word stands alone and agrees in number with what it refers to. When used as a pronoun, it is often followed by a copula or a listing in discourse, much like “these are” in English.

Usage notes include that quest’ forms occur for singular before vowels in the relevant gender (for example, questo → quest’ before a masculine singular noun beginning with a vowel), but such elision does not apply to the plural form questi. In standard Italian, questi is common in both spoken and written language and is frequently used in everyday speech, instruction, and narration to point to nearby items or people.

See also: demonstratives in Italian, questa/questi/quei/quelli forms, pronoun usage in Italian.