I NOMI

Nouns (and how to make them plural)

Italian nouns are divided into two genders: masculine and feminine.

Italian nouns end in 3 possible ways:

-A    like pizza, pasta, casa

-O    like bambino, minuto, disegno

-E    like ristorante, studente, ospedale

Words borrowed from another language like sport, weekend, jogging, film are masculine and have no plural form.

1. Nouns which end in -A are nearly always feminine; to make them plural change -A to -E: e.g.
casa = house ; houses = case
pizza = pizza ; pizzas = pizze
porta = door ; doors = porte

2. Nouns which end in -O are nearly always masculine; to make them plural change -O to -I: e.g.
ragazzo = boy ; boys = ragazzi
gelato = ice cream ; ice creams = gelati
tempo = time ; times = tempi

3. Nouns which end in -E can be either masculine or feminine and you have to learn the gender when you learn the word; to make these nouns plural change -E to -I :e.g.
ristorante = restaurant ; restaurants = ristoranti
notte = night ; nights = notti
studente = student ; students = studenti

Notes:
1. Many nouns in Italian end in -ità (note the grave accent on the final -a). These nouns do not have a plural form. Nor does the noun città (city).

2. Look at these two masculine nouns: zio (plural zii) and occhio (plural occhi). You will only find two 'i's if the 'i' in the singular carries the stress of the word.

3. Spelling: Nouns ending in -ca and -ga are spelt -che and -ghe in the plural: e.g.

banca = bank ; banks = banche
riga = line ; lines = righe

Nouns ending in -co and -go are spelt -chi and -ghi in the plural: e.g.

fico = fig ; figs = fichi
fungo = mushroom ; mushrooms = funghi

Exercise 1: Turn all the nouns below into the plural. (This is not an interactive exercise; you'll have to use paper and check your answers)

porta ; finestra ; gatto ; cane ; ombrello ; ospedale ; cerimonia ; opportunità ; film ; posto ; lago ; unione ; spiaggia ; giacca ; albergo ; sbaglio ; sacco ; università ; sport ; città.

To check your answers click here.

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N.B. THIS IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE SET OF RULES: THERE ARE SOME IRREGULAR NOUNS WHICH ARE NOT DEALT WITH HERE. LEARN THEM AS YOU MEET THEM!

However, you ought to know the following:

A. These nouns are masculine although they end in -a:

1. il cinema
2. Nouns ending in -ma which are Greek in origin.

   il clima

   il diploma

   il problema

   il programma

   il tema (theme)

B. Nouns ending in -ista correspond to English nouns ending in -ist; they denote people who do things and can be masculine or feminine; the plural can be -isti or -iste depending on the gender.

C. The noun mano is feminine even although it end in -o: la mano and the plural is le mani.

D. Some masculine nouns have strange plurals:

E. These two nouns are irregular!

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