Making Nouns Plural

Question 1

Nouns which you make plural by changing the ending - masculine

Answer 1

Change the –o, –a or –e ending of masculine nouns to –i. Nearly all masculine plurals end in –i.

un anno one year due anni two years

un ciclista a (male) cyclist due ciclisti two cyclists

un francese a Frenchman due francesi two Frenchmen

Question 2

Nouns which you make plural by changing the ending- feminine

Answer 2

A->E or E->I

Change the –a ending of feminine nouns to –e. una settimana one week due settimane two weeks

Change the –e ending of feminine nouns to –i. un’inglese an Englishwoman due inglesi two Englishwomen

Question 3

Nouns you do not change in the plural

Answer 3

● You do not change feminine nouns ending in –à. You show that they are plural by using the plural word for the, adjectives in the plural, and so on. la città the city le città the cities grandi città great cities

● You do not change words ending in a consonant, which are often words borrowed from English and other languages. il film the film i film the films il manager the manager i manager the managers

Question 4

Nouns with irregular plurals ➤ A small number of common masculine nouns take the ending –a in the plural.

Answer 4

il dito the finger le dita the fingers
un uovo an egg le uova the eggs
il lenzuolo the sheet le lenzuola the sheets

Question 5

All nouns ending in –ca and –ga

Answer 5

➤ All nouns ending in –ca and –ga add an h before the plural ending. Singular Plural amica (female) friend amiche (female) friends buca hole buche holes

Question 6

Some nouns ending in ?? also add an h before the plural ending.

Answer 6

–co and –go

gioco game giochi games (jo,co)(jo-kee)
fuoco fire fuochi fires
luogo place luoghi places
borgo district borghi districts

Question 7

Exceptions of -co and -go rule

Answer 7

many exceptions: the plurals of amico (meaning friend) and psicologo (meaning psychologist) are amici and psicologi. Seecollargo

Question 8

some words are plural in Italian but singular in English.

Answer 8

i miei capelli my hair (meay)
gli affari business
le notizie the news (lay notitze-ay)
consigli advice (consilyee)
i mobili the furniture (mawbilly)
sciocchezze nonsense (showketsay)

Question 9

For the words that are plural in English but not Italian, what does it mean if it is referred to in the singlular e.g. un consiglio over consigli

Answer 9

A piece of something, in this case: a piece of advice