As
we have studied in the previous post, usually masculine
nouns
end with the vowel –o
and
feminine
nouns
end with the vowel –a.
Nouns that end with the vowel –e,
instead, can be masculine or feminine.
However,
in Italian there are some nouns with particular ending that follow
different rules and form the plural in a particular way.
NOUNS
THAT END WITH –ISTA
In Italian there are some
nouns that end with –ista, particularly those concerning
professions. These nouns don’t change with the gender, so masculine
and feminine nouns have the same form. But they change in the plural.
Masculine nouns that
end with –ISTA make the plural by changing the vowel –A
with –I, while
feminine nouns
make the plural by changing the vowel –A with
–E.
il / la giornalista (the journalist) i giornalisti le giornaliste
lo
/ la stilista
(the
fashion designer)
gli stilisti le
stiliste
il
/ la tennista (the
tennis player)
i tennisti le
tenniste
il
/ la farmacista
(the
pharmacist)
i farmacisti le
farmaciste
Remember that some nouns
that end with –ista don’t belong to this category but they
are common feminine nouns (examples: rivista = magazine,
intervista = interview, lista = list).
NOUNS
THAT END WITH –CIA E –GIA
Nouns that end with –CIA
and –GIA make the plural in a different way, depending
on whether there is a vowel or a consonant before the final ending
–cia and –gia. If there is a vowel (a,
e, i, o, u) before, we can form the plural by changing the vowel –A
with –E.
camicia
/ camicie = shirt /
shirts
ciliegia
/ ciliegie = cherry /
cherries
valigia
/ valigie = suitcase /
suitcases
If there is a a consonant
before –cia and –gia,
we can form the plural by changing the vowel –A with –E,
after we have cancelled the vowel -I.
arancia
/ arance = orange /
oranges
roccia
/ rocce = rock / rocks
spiaggia
/ spiagge = beach /
beaches
frangia
/ frange = fringe /
fringes
NOUNS
THAT END WITH –CO, –GO, –CA, –GA
Masculine nouns that
end with –CO and –GO usually in the plural change
the ending in –CHI and –GHI. The same rule apply to
feminine nouns.
cuoco
/ cuochi
= chef / chefs
fuoco
/ fuochi
= fire / fires
parco
/ parchi
= park / parks
albergo
/ alberghi
= hotel / hotels
lago
/ laghi
= lake / lakes
amica
/ amiche
= friend / friends
fabbrica
/ fabbriche
= factory / factories
strega
/ streghe
=
witch
/ witches
There are, however, many
exceptions.
amico
/ amici = friend /
friends
farmaco
/ farmaci = medicine /
medicines
medico
/ medici = doctor /
doctors
monaco
/ monaci
= monk / monks
sindaco
/ sindaci
= mayor
/ mayors
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