Learn the irregular singular and plural of the following IRREGULAR NOUNS in Italian and the appropriate definite articles.
Look at these examples to see how some plural words are used.
Franco ha le dita lunghe, perfette per suonare il pianoforte.
Ho camminato molto e oggi ho un dolore alle ginocchia
Roma è circondata da mura antichissime.
Molte città italiane sono spesso affollate di turisti.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
NOUNS USED REGULARLY IN PLURAL
Rules:
When Masculine singular nouns end in -o their plural form end in -i
When Feminine singular nouns end in -a and their plurals end in -e
IRREGULAR NOUNS
1. Some feminine nouns end in -o; their plural form ends in -o or -i
| ARTICLE | SINGULAR -O | ARTICLE | PLURAL -O / -I |
| La | Mano | Le | Mani |
| La | Radio | Le | Radio |
| La | Moto | Le | Moto |
2. Some masculine singular nouns end in -a.
Their plural always ends in -i
| ARTICLE | SINGULAR -O | ARTICLE | PLURAL -O / -E |
| IL | Problema | I | Problemi |
| IL | Sistema | I | Sistemi |
| IL | Poeta | I | Poeti |
| IL | Programma | I | Programmi |
3. Nouns ending in -e can be both masculine and feminine; their plurals end in -i
MASCULINE:
| ARTICLE | SINGULAR – E | ARTICLE | PLURAL -I |
| Lo | Studente | GLI | Studenti |
| IL | Bicchiere | I | Bicchieri |
| IL | Nome | I | Nomi |
4. Masculine Nouns ending in – ore – one – ale – ile :
MASCULINE:
| ART. | SINGULAR – E | ART. | PLURAL -I |
| IL | Fiore | I | Fiori |
| IL | Pallone | I | Palloni |
| IL | Giornale | I | Giornali |
FEMININE:
| ART. | SINGULAR – E | ART. | PLURAL -I |
| La | Chiave | Le | Chiavi |
| La | Nave | Le | Navi |
5. Feminine Nouns ending in – one and – ice. The – e ending changes to – i in the plural
| ART. | SINGULAR – E | ART. | PLURAL -I |
| La | Stazione | Le | Stazioni |
| La | Stagione | Le | Stagioni |
| L’ | Attrice | Le | Attrici |
| La | Pittrice | Le | Pittrici |
6. Foreign Nouns
Foreign nouns are always singular
| ART. | SINGULAR | ART. | PLURAL |
| L’ | Autobus | GLI | Autobus |
| IL | Taxi | I | Taxi |
| IL | Film | I | Film |
| Lo | Sport | GLI | Sport |
| IL | Bar | I | Bar |
7. Masculine and Feminine nouns ending in – ista
| ART. | SINGULAR | ART. | MASCULINE PLURAL | ART. | FEMININE PLURAL |
| Il | Farmacista | I | Farmacisti | Le | Farmaciste |
| Il | Dentista | I | Dentisti | Le | Dentiste |
| Il | Taxista | I | Taxisti | Le | Taxiste |
| L’ | Artista | Gli | Artisti | Le | Artiste |
8. Feminine nouns ending in – tà and – tù
Feminine nouns ending in –tà and -tù don’t change in the plural.
| ART. | SINGULAR | ART. | PLURAL |
| La | Città | Le | Città |
| L’ | Università | Le | Università |
| La | Virtù | Le | Virtù |
9. Feminine nouns ending in – cia and – gia
Feminine nouns ending in – cia form their plural with – ce when a consonant comes before and in –cie when a vowel comes before.
Feminine nouns ending in – gia form their plural with – ge when a consonant comes before and in –gie when a vowel comes before.
| ART. | SINGULAR | ART. | PLURAL |
| L’ | Arancia | Le | Arance |
| La | Camicia | Le | Camicie |
| La | Spiaggia | Le | Spiagge |
| La | Ciliegia | Le | Ciliegie |
10. MASCULINE NOUNS ENDING IN – CO AND – GO
Some masculine nouns ending in -co and -go change their ending in -chi and -ghi in the plural.
| ART. | SINGULAR | ART. | PLURAL |
| IL | Parco | I | Parchi |
| IL | Tedesco | I | Tedeschi |
| L’ | Albergo | GLI | Alberghi |
| IL | Lago | I | Laghi |
“Amico” and “greco” are exceptions
| ART. | SINGULAR | ART. | PLURAL |
| L’ | Amico | GLI | Amici |
| IL | Greco | I | Greci |
11. Feminine nouns ending in – ca and – ga in the singular change their ending in – che and – ghe in the plural.
| ART. | SINGULAR | ART. | PLURAL |
| L’ | Amica | Le | Amiche |
| La | Psicologa | Le | Psicologhe |
12. Masculine singular nouns with the feminine plural form
Some nouns are masculine in the singular and feminine in the plural.
| ART. | SINGULAR | ART. | PLURAL |
| IL | Dito | Le | Dita |
| IL | Ginocchio | Le | Ginocchia |
| IL | Labbro | Le | Labbra |
Practice Plurals
What’s next?
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Tony
Your rules say:
“4. Nouns ending in … – one … are always masculine”
“5. Nouns ending in – one … are feminine”
This seems like a contradiction.
Italian Tutor for Easitalian
Yes Tony, It could be misunderstood so I’ve updated and changed the title of the paragraphs. Thank you for your help.
Christopher
What about ala/Ali? Are there any other feminine nouns like that?
Italian Tutor for Easitalian
Hi Christopher and thank you for your very interesting question. The word “ala” is very particular in the Italian language. As you said its plural is “ali”. Another word with the same peculiarity is “arma”. Its plural is in fact “armi”.