Sostantivi/Nomi – NOUNS
Italian nouns are gendered in the antiquated sense - they can be masculine or feminine. This distinction is important because articles, nouns, and adjectives must agree in number and gender.  The best way to remember the gender of a noun is to learn it with its definite article (il/l’/lo/i/gli/la/l’/le).
 
Singular nouns that end in -o are generally masculine.

• il libro (the book)   

 
Singular nouns that end in -a are generally feminine.

• la casa (the house)   

 
Singular nouns that end in -e, can be masculine or feminine.

• il ristorante (the restaurant) 
• la stazione (the station)  

Since there are few rules to identify the gender of -E ending nouns, it is necessary to memorize the nouns.
 ​

masculine

il gatto
the cat

feminine

la penna
the pen

nouns ending in -e

(m)     il fiore (the flower)
(f)     l'opinione (the opinion)

There are a few clues to determine gender.

Nouns with the following endings are masculine:
-ore

• il difensore                  defender
• il dottore                      doctor
• il televisore                 television (set)

-ere / -iere

• il cameriere                 waiter
• il corriere                      coach (bus)
• l’ingegnere                  engineer

 
-ame / -ale

• il catrame                     tar
• il falegname                carpenter
• il temporale                 storm

Nouns with the following endings are feminine:
-ione

• la colazione                 breakfast
• l’opinione                     opinion
• la stazione                   station
• la televisione              television (programming)

 
-udine / -igine

• l’abitudine                   habit
• l’origine                       origin
• la solitudine               solitude

-ice

• l’attrice                        actress
• la direttrice                directress

 
-tà / -tù

• la gioventù                youth
• la verità                      truth
• la virtù                        virtue
• la città                        city

Sometimes, the gender of a noun ending in -e can be determined by the gender of the person it refers to - masculine when it refers to a male, feminine when it refers to a female:

• il/la cantante [m/f]       (male/female) singer
• il/la cliente [m/f]           (male/female) customer
• il/la parente [m/f]        (male/female) relative
• l’inglese [m/f]               Englishman/Englishwoman

These feminine nouns end in -o.

• la radio    (radio broadcast - shortened from la radiofonia)
• la foto      (photograph - shortened from la fotografia)
• la moto    (motorcycle - shortened from la motocicletta)

Most* singular nouns that end in -i are feminine.

• la crisi                           crisis
• l'ipotesi                        hypothesis
• l'analisi                        analysis

      *Two exceptions are l’alibi (alibi) and lo sci (ski), both of which are masculine

Nouns of Greek origin ending in -ma are masculine.

• il clima                         climate
• il sistema                    system
• il fantasma                 ghost
• il programma             program

Foreign nouns are generally masculine unless they specifically refer to a female.

• il bar/ i bar                          
• il rock/ i rock
• l’hotel/ gli hotel

Occasionally, the gender of a foreign noun is the same as it is for the corresponding Italian word:

• la new wave is feminine, because onda (wave) is feminine.
• la mail (e-mail message) is feminine, because posta (mail) is feminine.

All months of the year and days of the week are masculine, apart from domenica (Sunday), which is feminine.

All names of towns and cities are feminine, apart from Il Cairo [m].

All names of languages are masculine.

Names of countries are usually feminine  when they end in -a (Il Canada is one exception) and masculine when they end in any other letter

 
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