Gender & Plural in Italian

In this lesson, we will learn about grammatical gender and plural in Italian.

What is the rule of masculine and feminine gender in Italian?

How do we form the plural in Italian? What are the Italian plural rules and endings?

The vast majority of Italian words end in a vowel. This is part of the reason spoken Italian has a melodic recognizable tone.

This rule, however, is not universal. Not all Italian words end with a vowel, e.g., “il” (the), “con” (with), “in” (in). In addition, there are many foreign words that have made inroads into the Italian life and dictionary such as “sport” and “Internet.”

The vowel at the end of the word often identifies the gender and number of a noun or adjective.

General Rule

Many masculine nouns and adjectives in Italian end with “-o” in singular and “-i” in plural. On the other hand, many feminine nouns and adjectives end with “-a” in singular and “-e” in plural.

Furthermore, some Italian words end in “-e” in their singular form, and it can be hard to tell if they are masculine or feminine. To form the plural, the final “e” is changed to “i,” regardless of the gender of the word.

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	-o	-i
Masculine or Feminine	-e	-i
Feminine	-a	-e

The above rule applies most of the time, but not always, to define or form the gender and plural in Italian.

Notably, the word “gente” (people) in Italian, unlike in English, is singular, e.g., “La gente va e viene” (people come and go).

There are words that are only used in plural form such as “baffi^m” (mustache), “forbici^f” (scissors), “occhiali^m” (glasses), and “pantaloni^m” (pants).

Throughout the lessons, we use the superscripts ^m and ^f to refer to masculine and feminine genders, respectively.

More Rules on Gender & Plural

Nouns and adjectives in Italian have only two genders: masculine and feminine. There is no neuter gender. The gender of an adjective follows the gender of the noun it describes.

Adjectives in Italian, unlike in English, come after the noun they describe, for example, “edificio alto” (tall building). There are some exceptions to this rule, for example, “grande città” (big or great city). Many adjectives that come before the noun are indefinite adjectives, which will be covered in Level III, Lesson 4.

For the purpose of brevity in the lessons, we often refer only to the masculine singular form of an adjective. We trust that by learning the following basic rules, you will be able to guess the feminine and plural forms most of the time.

Let us summarize some important rules in the context of examples:

1. Words ending in “-o” are generally masculine, and the plural is formed by changing the final “o” to “i.”

For instance, the plural of “quaderno” (notebook) in Italian is “quaderni.” Similarly, the plural of “zaino” (backpack) is “zaini.” Here are some more examples:

libro^m	book	libri^m	books
gatto^m	cat	gatti^m	cats
telefono^m	phone	telefoni^m	phones
zio^m	uncle	zii^m	uncles

There are only a few exceptions of words ending in “-o” that are feminine, such as: “mano” (hand), “radio” (radio), “libido” (libido), “foto” (photo), “auto” (car), and “moto” (motorcycle).

2. Words ending in “-a” are generally feminine, and the plural is formed by changing the final “a” to “e.”

For example:

casa^f	house	case^f	houses
camicia^f	shirt	camicie^f	shirts
sedia^f	chair	sedie^f	chairs
zia^f	aunt	zie^f	aunts

There are some exceptions such as:

Words that end in “-ma” or “-ta” and originate from Greek These are masculine, and the plural is formed by changing the final “a” to “i.” For instance, the plural of “il clima” (the climate) in Italian is “i climi.” Here are some examples:

problema^m	problem	problemi^m	problems
sistema^m	system	sistemi^m	systems
clima^m	climate	climi^m	climates
tema^m	topic	temi^m	topics
diploma^m	diploma	diplomi^m	diplomas
dramma^m	drama	drammi^m	dramas
dilemma^m	dilemma	dilemmi^m	dilemmas
diagramma^m	diagram	diagrammi^m	diagrams
pianeta^m	planet	pianeti^m	planets
poeta^m	poet	poeti^m	poets

This exception does not apply to words that did not originate from Greek, such as “forma^f” (form) and “piattaforma^f” (platform), whose plurals are “forme^f” and “piattaforme^f,” respectively.

Words that end in “-ista” and refer to masculine or feminine people performing a profession, such as:

tassista^m,f	taxi driver	tassisti^m tassiste^f	taxi drivers
artista^m,f	artist	artisti^m artiste^f	artists
analista^m,f	analyst	analisti^m analiste^f	analysts
pianista^m,f	pianist	pianisti^m pianiste^f	pianists

The feminine form is used for groups that consist exclusively of feminine-gender members. Even if one masculine-gender member of that group exists, we must use the masculine form.

3. Words ending in “-e” can be masculine or feminine, and the plural is formed by changing the final “e” to “i.”

For example:

colore^m	color	colori^m	colors
madre^f	mother	madri^f	mothers
padre^m	father	padri^m	fathers
chiave^f	key	chiavi^f	keys

It can be difficult to determine if a noun ending with “-e” is masculine or feminine and a dictionary is often needed. Most nouns ending in “-ice” are feminine. They are often the feminine forms of masculine nouns ending in “-ore.”
For instance, the feminine of “attore“ (actor) is “attrice” (actress). Whereas the plural of the masculine “attore“ is “attori,” the plural of the feminine “attrice“ is “attrici,” pronounced /at-tree-chee/. Here are some examples:

attore^m attrice^f	actor actress	attori^m attrici^f	actors actresses
autore^m autrice^f	author	autori^m autrici^f	authors
direttore^m direttrice^f	director	direttori^m direttrici^f	directors
imperatore^m imperatrice^f	emperor empress	imperatori^m imperatrici^f	emperors empresses
pittore^m pittrice^f	painter	pittori^m pittrici^f	painters
scrittore^m scrittrice^m	writer	scrittori^m scrittrici^m	writers

In general, most nouns ending with “-ione” are feminine, and most nouns ending in “-one,” but not “-ione,” are masculine. For example:

nazione^f	nation	nazioni^f	nations
televisione^f	television	televisioni^f	televisions
opinione^f	opinion	opinioni^f	opinions
cordone^m	rope	cordoni^m	ropes
mattone^m	brick	mattoni^m	bricks
pallone^m	ball	palloni^m	balls

However, there are few exceptions, such as “copione” (script) which is masculine.

4. Although the most common gender pattern is a feminine noun with an “-a” ending that corresponds to a masculine noun with an “-o” ending, this is not the only gender pattern in Italian.

We have encountered masculine nouns ending in “-ore” whose feminine forms end in “-ice,” e.g., “autore^m” and “autrice^f,” meaning “author.”

Another irregular but common feminine form is using the ending “-essa.” This is common with some masculine nouns ending in “-ore,” “-ante,” “-ente,” “-eta,” and “-one.” For example:

professore^m professoressa^f	professor	professori^m professoresse^f	professors
presidente^m presidentessa^f	president	presidenti^m presidentesse^f	presidents
poeta^m poetessa^f	poet	poeti^m poetesse^f	poets
leone^m leonessa^f	lion lioness	leoni^m leonesse^f	lions lionesses

Some nouns ending in “-e” in masculine have an “-a” ending in their feminine forms. For example:

cameriere^m cameriera^f	waiter waitress	camerieri^m cameriere^f	waiters waitresses
infermiere^m infermiera^f	nurse	infermieri^m infermiere^f	nurses

Some nouns do not change form in masculine or feminine. For example:

cantante^m,f	singer	cantanti^m,f	singers
francese^m,f	French	francesi^m,f	French (plural)
inglese^m,f	English	inglesi^m,f	English (plural)

Finally, there are other nouns that do not follow any pattern. For example, the feminine form of “dio” (god) is “dea” (goddess).

5. Words under the following categories have the same singular and plural forms:

Foreign words used in Italian. Most such words are masculine.
For instance, the plural of the masculine noun “computer” in Italian is the same, i.e., “computer.” Here are some more examples:

film^m	film	film^m	films
bar^m	bar	bar^m	bars
sport^m	sport	sport^m	sports
taxi^m	taxi	taxi^m	taxis
autobus^m	bus	autobus^m	buses
re^m	king	re^m	kings
gru^m	crane	gru^m	cranes
hotel^m	hotel	hotel^m	hotels

Most words ending in an accented vowel.
For instance, the plural of “città” (city) in Italian is the same, i.e., “città.” Similarly, the plural of “università” (university) in Italian is the same, i.e., “università.”Here are some examples:

città^f	city	città^f	cities
caffè^m	coffee	caffè^m	coffees
università^f	university	università^f	universities
tribù^f	tribe	tribù^f	tribes
virtù^f	virtue	virtù^f	virtues

Words that end in “-si.” Most such words are feminine. For example:

crisi^f	crisis	crisi^f	crises
analisi^f	analysis	analisi^f	analyses

Feminine words that end in “-o,” except “mano^f” (hand), whose plural is “mani^f.” For example:

radio^f	radio	radio^f	radios
auto^f	car	auto^f	cars
foto^f	photo	foto^f	photos
moto^f	motorcycle	moto^f	motorbikes

Notice that the nouns “auto,” “foto,” and “moto” are short forms of the feminine nouns “automobile^f,” “fotografia^f,” and “motocicletta^f,” respectively.

6. There are a few words that are masculine in singular form and feminine in plural form.

For example:

braccio^m	arm	braccia^f	arms
dito^m	finger	dita^f	fingers
ginocchio^m	knee	ginocchia^f	knees
labbro^m	lip	labbra^f	lips
uovo^m	egg	uova^f	eggs

7. Some words undergo spelling changes to form the plural.

These often fall under one of these categories:

Words with “-co/-ca” and “-go/-ga” endings often add “h” to form plurals with “-chi/-che” or “-ghi/-ghe” endings, especially if the “-co/-ca” or “-go/-ga” is not preceded by “e” or “i.”

For instance, the plural of “albergo“ (hotel) in Italian is “alberghi.” Here are some examples:

gioco^m	game	giochi^m	games
parco^m	park	parchi^m	parks
albergo^m	hotel	alberghi^m	hotels
lago^m	lake	laghi^m	lakes

Notice that the purpose of these changes is to maintain the desired soft or hard pronunciation of the “c” or “g.”

If an “e” or “i” precedes the “-co/-ca” or “-go/-ga,” the masculine plural form often ends in “-ci” or “-gi,” leading to change in the “c” or “g” pronunciation from hard to soft sound.

For instance, the plural of “amico“ (male friend) is “amici,” pronounced /a-mee-chee/, whereas the plural of “amica“ (female friend) in Italian is “amiche,” pronounced /a-mee-ke/. Here are some examples:

amico^m amica^f	friend	amici^m amiche^f	friends
greco^m greca^f	Greek	greci^m greche^f	Greeks
biologo^m biologa^f	biologist	biologi^m biologhe^f	biologists
psicologo^m psicologa^f	psychologist	psicologi^m psicologhe^f	psychologists

Notice that this exception applies only to the masculine form, whereas the feminine form still adds an “h” in the plural.

In general, the suffixes “-logo” and “-loga,” referring to a profession in singular, change to “-logi” and “-loghe,” respectively, in plural.

Finally, there are a number of words, mostly masculine, that do not follow the aforementioned rules. For example:

porco^m	pig	porci^m	pigs
fico^m	fig	fichi^m	figs
sindaco^m	mayor	sindaci^m	mayors
monaco^m	monk	monaci^m	monks

Words with “-cia” and “-gia” endings often remove the “i” to form plurals with “-ce” and “-ge” endings, if the “-cia” or “-gia” ending is preceded by a consonant. For example:

arancia^f	orange	arance^f	oranges
faccia^f	face	facce^f	faces
spiaggia^f	beach	spiagge^f	beaches

If the “-cia” or “-gia” ending is preceded by a vowel, the regular plural is formed with “-cie” or “-gie” ending. For example:

camicia^f	shirt	camicie^f	shirts
ciliegia^f	cherry	ciliegie^f	cherries
valigia^f	suitcase	valigie^f	suitcases

Words with the the “-io” ending remove the final “o” to form plurals with the “-i” ending.
For instance, the plural of “orologio“ (clock or watch) is “orologi.” Here are some examples:

figlio^m	son	figli^m	sons
occhio^m	eye	occhi^m	eyes
orologio^m	clock/watch	orologi^m	clocks/watches

If the “i” in the final “-io” is in the stressed syllable of the word, the plural is formed with the “-ii” ending. For example:

invio^m	dispatch	invii^m	dispatches
zio^m	uncle	zii^m	uncles

8. Some words have completely irregular plurals.

For example:

uomo^m	man	uomini^m	men
dio^m	god	dèi^m	gods
bue^m	ox	buoi^m	oxen
ala^f	wing	ali^f	wings
arma^f	weapon	armi^f	weapons
tempio^m	temple	templi^m	temples

9. Some words have a different meaning when used as masculine versus when used as feminine.

For example:

posto^m	place	posta^f	mail
modo^m	way	moda^f	fashion
capitale^m	capital (money)	capitale^f	capital (city)

Next: Cardinal Numbers

Back to: Italian Lessons

Other lessons in Level I:

Level I – Basic

1. Alphabet & Pronunciation

1.1. Vowels

1.2. Syllable Stress in Italian

2.1. Negation, Pronunciation, & Written Accents

3. Gender and Plural

4. Cardinal Numbers

5. Subject Personal Pronouns

6. Present Indicative Tense I

7. The Articles

8. Interrogative Pronouns & Adjectives