Learn the irregular singular and plural of the following IRREGULAR NOUNS in Italian and the appropriate definite articles.
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 end 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 |
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.