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In Italian, you can understand the gender of a noun from the final vowel. Usually, masculine
nouns
end with vowel O (tavolo = table, ragazzo = boy), while feminine
nouns
end with vowel A (sedia = chair, mappa = map).
Nouns that end with vowel E,
instead, can be masculine or feminine (mare = sea is a masculine noun, while chiave = key is feminine).
But in Italian there are also nouns that follow
different rules. Some nouns that end with vowel A are masculine (problema, cinema, clima, poeta) and some that end with vowel O are feminine (radio, moto, auto, foto).
To make the plural of a noun, we have to change the ending vowel. Masculine nouns that end with vowel O and E, in the plural form end with vowel I.
- ombrello / ombrelli (umbrella / umbrellas)
- fiore / fiori (flowers / flowers)
- bicchiere / bicchieri (glass / glasses)
Feminine nouns that end with vowel A, in the plural form end with vowel E, while feminine nouns that end with E, in the plural form end with I.
- tazza / tazze (cup / cups)
- finestra / finestre (window / windows)
- nave / navi (ship / ships)
There are some nouns, however, that make the plural in a special way.
NOUNS
THAT END WITH –ISTA
The nouns that end with –ista, particularly those concerning
professions, don’t change with the gender (masculine
and feminine have the same form), but change in the plural.
Masculine nouns make the plural by changing vowel -A with -I, while
feminine nouns
make the plural by changing vowel -A with -E.
- il giornalista - i giornalisti (the male journalist)
- la giornalista - le giornaliste (the female journalist)
- il tennista - i tennisti (the male tennis player)
- la tennista - le tenniste (the female tennis player)
Remember that some nouns
that end with –ista don’t belong to this class of nouns, but are common feminine nouns (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 before, we form the plural by changing 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 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, in the plural form change
the ending in –chi and –ghi. Feminine nouns that end with –ca and –ga, in the plural form change the ending in –che and –ghe.
- parco / parchi (park / parks)
- lago / laghi (lake / lakes)
- 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)