As we learned in the Gender of Nouns section, Italian nouns are "gendered"; that is, they can be "masculine" or "feminine". In this section, we will learn how to make nouns plural.

Plural nouns are formed in different ways depending on the gender and/or ending of the noun:

Masculine singular nouns that end in -o  form the plural by changing the ending to -i.

• il libro (the book)                           >>  i libri  (the books)
• l'amico (the friend)                       >>  gli amici (the friends)
• lo spazzolino (the toothbrush)  >>  gli spazzolini (the toothbrushes)

 
Feminine singular nouns that end in -a form the plural by changing the ending to -e.

• la casa (the house)                      >>   le case (the houses)
• l'acqua (the water)                       >>   le acque (the waters)
• la donna (the woman)                 >>   le donne (the women)

 
Nouns that end in -e, can be masculine or feminine.
These nouns end in -i in the plural, regardless of gender.

• (m)    il ristorante (the restaurant) >> i ristoranti (the restaurants)
• (f)      la stazione (the station)  >> le stazioni (the stations)

singular

plural

masculine

il gatto
the cat

i gatti
the cats

feminine

la penna
the pen

le penne
the pens

nouns ending in -e

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

i fior​​i (the flowers)
le opinion​i (the opinions)

 There are, of course, exceptions and irregularities. These have to be memorized; however, there are some rules that we can follow.

​SOME RULES/TIPS FOR PLURALS

The plural of the singular noun l'uomo (man) is gli uomini (men).

The plural of the singular noun l'uovo (egg) is le uova - it is masculine in the singular, feminine in the plural.

The feminine noun la mano (hand) is le mani (hands) in the plural.


Masculine nouns that end in -a usually have a plural then ends in -i

• il problema / i problemi               problem/ problems
• il panorama / i panorami            panorama/ panoramas
• il tema / i temi                                theme/ themes

For nouns that end in accented vowels, in the plural the endings do not change:

• la città / le città             city/cities
• la virtù / le virtù             virtue/virtues
• il caffè / i caffè              coffee/coffees​

​​For the feminine nouns that end in -o, in the plural the endings do not change.

• la radio / le radio           radio/radios
• la foto / le foto               photo/photos
• la moto / le moto          motorcycle/motorcycles

​​
​​For the feminine nouns that end in -i, in the plural the endings do not change.

• la crisi / le crisi               crisis/crises
• l'ipotesi / le ipotesi       hypothesis/hypotheses
• l'analisi / le analisi        analysis/analyses​

​
​Pratica!
​EXERCISES/ESERCIZI

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