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Italian Singular & Plural Nouns in Italian (& a little masculine/feminine action, too)

June 2, 2013 By Cher

Italian Singular & Plural Nouns in Italian (& a little masculine/feminine action, too)

You know how we have a singular form and a plural form for our nouns in English?

While ours in English are easier and tend to just be ‘flower’ becomes ‘flowers’, the two forms exist in Italian too.

First, you should be aware that there is a masculine and feminine form to each noun.

That’s definitely different than English.

Here’s a super easy-peasy rule:

Nouns ending in -o are masculine, and nouns ending in -a are feminine…usually.

Nope, no rules are definite.

Probably symbolic for life or something.

Per esempio, treno is masculine and casa is feminine.

Here’s where it can get wonky.

Ristorante is masculine.

Stazione is feminine.

Grammar note: The majority of nouns that end in -zione, -gione, -sione, -tà, -tù, -udine, -i, and -ie are feminine.

Per esempio, la crisi, l’abitudine, e l’università

Also, nouns ending in -ore or a consonant are always masculine.

Like, sport or bar, which, fun for you, are Italian words that are the same in English.

Now that that’s settled, let’s move on to the singular & plural business.

You change a noun from singular to plural by changing the final vowel of the word or the last couple of letters.

It really depends…per usual.

Here are the general rules:

Ends in -o –> -i

e.g. tentativo –> tentativi

Ends in -a –> -e

e.g. volta –> volte

Ends in -e –> -i

e.g. stazione –> stazioni

However!

There are some nouns that just don’t ever change because they’re boss like that.

Some are:

Città

Caffè

{Bar, Film, Computer} – Because they end in a consonant!

Then, some nouns are abbreviated, which are always super tricky and trip me up.

A couple are:

Cinema, which is short for cinematografo

Foto, which is short for fotografia

Another rule is that nouns ending in -ca and -ga add a little ‘h’ right in between.

Per esempio, amica –> amiche  & riga –> righe

Finally!

If it ends in -io, it just changes to -i. No double i’s here.

Per esempio, negozio –> negozi, ufficio –> uffici, and figlio –> figli

I know. I know.

Lots of rules.

Just be aware that they exist, and we’re going to put them use in actual conversation.

Don’t try & memorize anything.

You’ll learn in the process. I promise.

In the comments below, tell me how you’re feeling about Italian so far.

[photo credit: Stefano Constantini]

Filed Under: Beginner Italian, Grammar, Italian Tagged With: Beginner Italian, italian, plural nouns, singular nouns

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About Cher

Cher is the founder of The Iceberg Project and a passionate learner of the Italian, Mandarin and Spanish languages. In a little town called Vegas, you can find her searching the Internet for Doctor Who and Parks & Rec memes, drinking bubble tea, or talking about how much she loves grammar.

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