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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). However, 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)
Some nouns then make the plural in a special way.
NOUNS
THAT END WITH –ISTA
Nouns that end with -ista don’t change with the gender (masculine
and feminine have the same form), but change in the plural. If they are masculine, they make the plural by changing vowel A with I. If they are feminine, they 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 cancelling the vowel I and changing the vowel A with E.
- 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)