Nouns

Question 1

What depends on a nouns gender?

Answer 1

how you translate the words for ‘the’ or ‘a’, adjectives, pronouns

Question 2

Adjectives examples

Answer 2

un abito caro – an expensive suit

una macchina cara – an expensive car

Question 3

Pronouns examples

Answer 3

Do you want it? is “Lo vuoi?” if you’re offering un gelato (an ice cream),

and “La vuoi?” if you’re referring to una mela

Question 4

Singular day (giorno)

Answer 4

Giorni- plural

Question 5

Singular apple is mela, what is the plural form?

Answer 5

Mele

Question 6

rivoluzione= revolution, what is the plural?

Answer 6

rivoluzioni revolutions

Question 7

some simple rules that will enable you to work out the gender of a very large number of Italian nouns from their last letter in the singular:

Answer 7

● nearly all words ending in –o are masculine.
● nearly all words ending in –a are feminine.
● nearly all words ending in –à, –sione and –zione are feminine.
● nearly all words ending with a consonant are masculine.

Question 8

a few very common nouns ending in –o are feminine:

Answer 8

la mano the hand
una foto a photo
la radio the radio
una moto a motorbike

Question 9

Note that some very common words ending in –a are masculine:

Answer 9

il problema the problem
il programma the programme
il sistema the system
il clima the climate

Question 10

professions and jobs ending in –ta

Answer 10

Most masculine or feminine, according to whether a male or female is meant.
un giornalista a (male) journalist una giornalista a (female) journalist
un dentista a (male) dentist una dentista a (female) dentist

Question 11

a difficulty

Answer 11

una difficoltà

Question 12

The reality

Answer 12

la realtà

Question 13

The version

Answer 13

la versione

Question 14

An opportunity

Answer 14

un’occasione(ocaz-e-owney)

Question 15

A lesson

Answer 15

una lezione

Question 16

Nouns ending in –e

Answer 16

can be masculine in some cases and feminine in others. E.g.
un mese a month
il mare the sea
la gente the people
la mente the mind

Question 17

names of languages

Answer 17

Always masculine

Question 18

Some words have different meanings depending on whether they are masculine or feminine. 1. Il fine vs la fine

Answer 18

Il fine= the objective, la fine= the end

Question 19

Some words have different meanings depending on whether they are masculine or feminine. Un posto vs la posta

Answer 19

Un posto= a place. La posta= the mail

Question 20

Un modo vs la moda

Answer 20

Un modo= a way, la moda= the fashion

Question 21

Il capitale vs una capitale

Answer 21

Il capitale= money, una capitale= a capital city

Question 22

un bel posto VS posta prioritaria

Answer 22

a nice place (un bel posto) vs first class

Question 23

there are sometimes very different words for male and female people and animals- man, brother, bull

Answer 23

un uomo a man (wamo)
una donna a woman
un fratello a brother
una sorella a sister
un toro a bull
una mucca a cow

Question 24

Many Italian nouns ending in –o can be made feminine by changing the ending - cook, boy

Answer 24

to –a. un cuoco a (male) cook una cuoca a (female) cook (kwarkar)

un ragazzo a boy una ragazza a girl

Question 25

More examples of changing the noun ending to get masculine to feminine
Photographer, italian man, cat

Answer 25

un fotografo a (male) photographer una fotografa a (female) photographer

un italiano an Italian (man) un’italiana an Italian (woman)

un gatto a (tom) cat una gatta a (she) cat

Question 26

If a noun describing a male ends in –tore, the feminine form ends in

Answer 26

ends in –trice. un attore a (male) actor un’attrice a (female) actor

Question 27

un pittore a (male) painter . What’s a female painter?

Answer 27

una pittrice a (female) painter (pitreechay)

Question 28

una scrittrice a (female) writer . What’s a male writer? Scritteechee

Answer 28

uno scrittore

Question 29

Certain nouns describing males ending in –e have feminine forms ending in –essa. Examples:

Answer 29

il professore the (male) teacher la professoressa the (female) teacher

uno studente a (male) student una studentessa a (female) student

un leone a lion una leonessa a lioness

Question 30

➤ Many nouns ending in what?? can refer either to males or to females, so there is no change of ending for the feminine.

Answer 30

-a and -e. E.g. un turista a (male) tourist una turista a (female) tourist

un nipote a grandson una nipote a granddaughter

Question 31

Grammar Extra! A few nouns that are feminine refer both to men and women.

Answer 31

una guida a guide (male or female)

una persona a person (male or female)

una spia a spy (male or female)

una star a star (male or female)

Sean Connery è ancora una star. Sean Connery’s still a star.