The Noun / The Substantive - Italian Grammar - Grammatica Italiana

The Noun / The Substantive

Gender
Nouns that end -o or some consonants are male, those which end in -a are female. There is also a number of exceptions, such as those which end in -à, -è, -ì, -ò, -ù or in consonants.

Endings

Some ending show a relation with the gender.

Ending	Italian	English
-a	il collega	colleague Attention: mostly -a is an indicator for female nouns!
-à	la civiltà	civilisation
-ale	il giornale	newspaper
-gione	la stagione	season
-i	la crisi	crisis
-(i)one	il sapone	soap
-ore	il colore	colour
-ù	la gioventù	youth
-zione	la situazione	situation
-Konsonanten	il bar	bar

Plural

The plural is usually formed according to the following scheme.

	Singular	Plural
male	o	i
female	a	e

Examples:
- l’amico - gli amici
- l’amica - le amiche

Singular	Plural
e	i

Examples:
- il pesce - i pesci
- la situazione - le situazioni

Words in -à, -è, -ì, -ò or -ù and others do not have a special plural ending.

Examples:
- il caffè - i caffè
- il menù - i menù
- la città - le città
As well as:
- il re - i re
- il bar - i bar

Short Scheme:

Singular	Plural
o	i
a	e
e	i

Attention: When forming the plural, always pay attentions if an “h” has to be added.

Examples:
- il parco - i parchi
- il tedesco - i tedeschi
- l’amica - le amiche

More Italian Grammar

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