Making nouns plural - NOUNS - Easy Learning Italian Grammar

Easy Learning Italian Grammar (2011)

NOUNS

4. Making nouns plural

There are two main ways of making nouns plural in Italian. In most cases you change the ending, but in a few cases the same form as the singular is used. There are also some plurals which are irregular.

1 Nouns which you make plural by changing the ending

In English you usually make nouns plural by adding –s. In Italian you usually do it by changing the ending from one vowel to another:

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

–o	un anno	one year
	due anni	two years
	un ragazzo	one boy
	due ragazzi	two boys
–a	un ciclista	a (male) cyclist
	due ciclisti	two cyclists
	un problema	a problem
	molti problemi	lots of problems
–e	un mese	one month
	due mesi	two months
	un francese	a Frenchman
	due francesi	two Frenchmen

Change the –a ending of feminine nouns to –e.

una settimana	one week
due settimane	two weeks
una ragazza	one girl
due ragazze	two girls

Change the –e ending of feminine nouns to –i.

un’inglese	an Englishwoman
due inglesi	two Englishwomen
la vite	the vine
le viti	the vines

2 Nouns you do not change in the plural

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
la loro università	their university
le loro università	their universities

For more information on Articles and Adjectives, see pages 10 and 20.

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
il computer	the computer
i computer	the computers
la jeep	the jeep
le jeep	the jeeps

3 Nouns with irregular plurals

A small number of common masculine nouns take the ending –a in the plural.

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

Note that the plural of uomo (meaning man) is uomini. The plural of la mano (meaning hand) is le mani.

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
riga	line	righe	lines
casalinga	housewife	casalinghe	housewives

Some nouns ending in –co and –go also add an h before the plural ending.

Singular		Plural
gioco	game	giochi	games
fuoco	fire	fuochi	fires
luogo	place	luoghi	places
borgo	district	borghi	districts

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

For more information on Italian spelling rules, see page 191.

4 Plural or singular?

Bear in mind that some words are plural in Italian but singular in English.

i miei capelli	my hair
gli affari	business
le notizie	the news
consigli	advice
i mobili	the furniture
sciocchezze	nonsense

Note that you use the singular of some of these words to refer to a piece of something.

un mobile	a piece of furniture
un consiglio	a piece of advice
una notizia	a piece of news

Tip

An important word that is singular in Italian but plural in English is la gente (meaning people). Remember to use a singular verb with la gente.

È gente molto simpatica.

They’re very nice people.

Grammar Extra!

When nouns are made by combining two words, such as pescespada (meaning swordfish), capolavoro (meaning masterpiece), or apriscatola (meaning tin opener) the plural is often not formed according to the usual rules. You can check by looking in a dictionary.

Key points

you can make most Italian nouns plural by changing their ending from one vowel to another.

Some nouns are the same in the plural as in the singular.

Some nouns which are singular in English are plural in Italian.