2015 notes
Index
INTERESTING VOCAB 2015 ................................................................................................................. 2
PLURAL NOUNS .................................................................................................................................... 3
Regular .................................................................................................................................................... 3
Irregular ................................................................................................................................................... 4
INTERESTING VOCAB 2015
sorprendente
surprising
PLURAL NOUNS
Regular
General rule for endings
ENDING
SING
PLURAL
Example sing.
Example plu.
Fem
-A
-E
la parola
le parole
Masc
-O
-I
il telefonino
i telefonini
F/M
-E
-I
la frase
le frasi
F/M
-E
-I
le padre
i padri
BUT
1. -cca endings become -che: you add a
“H” to keep the hard sound


una mucca = due mucche (not mucce)
un buco = due buchi
2. -go endings may become -gha: you add
the “H” to keep the hard sound

un lago = due laghi (not lagi)
3. But not always. Where a vowel
precedes -co or -go (i.e. is “-ico” or
“igo”, don’t add the “H”


uno scarafaggio = due scarafaggi
(cockroach, not scarafaggii)
un amico = due amici
4. Fem nouns ending in “-cia” or “-gia” =
“ce” or “ge” in the plural when a
consonant precedes the (sing) ending

arrancia = arrance (oranges, not
“arrancie”
5. -ea fem endings become -ee

dea = dee (goddess)
6. Some nouns only exist in the singular
form






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
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re (king)
ossigeno (oxigen)
tassì (taxi)
caffè (coffee)
hotel
sport
yoga
yogurt gru (crane)
città (city)
università (university)
7. Some nouns only exist in the plural form


occhiali (glasses)
forbici (scissors)
Irregular
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where the singular ending is the reverse of the general rule (e.g. la mano/le mani)
body parts
where the ending is invariable in the plural (e.g. foreign words: computer AND nouns ending
in a stressed vowel such as à (e.g. la città))
where the ending remains the same regardless of the gender but the article (il/la) changes
(e.g. la/il dentista)
where the ending is –O because the word is shortened (e.g. la moto(cicletta)/la foto(graphia)
words ending in a consonant are usually masculine (e.g. il tennis)
CATEGORIES TO LOOK OUT FOR
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job titles (esp –ISTA, -ESSA endings)
-CIDA / -IATRA endings
foreign words
-MA endings (and words of Greek origin)
feminine nouns ending in –O (also in plural)
feminine nouns ending in –IE (also in plural)
shortened words
nouns ending in a stressed vowel such as à (e.g. la città)
Common irregular nouns: unexpected endings in the plural


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
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
la mano (le mani)
l’uovo (le uova)
un paio (due paia)
un lenzuolo [a sheet] (due lenzuola)
il bue [ox] (due buoi)
mille [a thousand] [duemila)
DESRIBING PEOPLE
You cannot assume that because a word describes a man/woman, the word has a correlative gender
Feminine gender nouns that designate males:



la guardia
la guida
la sentinella
Masculine gender nouns that refer to females::



il contralto
il messosoprano
il soprano
Examples


Carlo è una brava guida turistica
Lorena è un bravo mezzosoprano
NOUN – ENDINGS STAY SAME & ARTICLE CHANGE DEPENDING ON “WHO” THEY DESCRIBE

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il/la otacineasta
il/la collega
il/la ginnasta
l’idiota
l’ipocrita
il/la patriota
il/la pil
Nouns ending in –ISTA / -CIDA / -IATRA
SINGULAR: nouns that end in -ista / -cida / -iatra can be M or F. Only the article differentiates.


il dentista: male dentist
la dentista: female dentist


il suicida: male who kills himself
la suicida: female who kills herself
PLURAL: reflects grammatical gender (as well as the sex of their referents).


i dentisti: group of dentists inc. at least one male
le dentiste: a group of female dentists only
Examples


-ISTA




dentista
farmacista
giornalista
artista
–CIDA



–IATRA

suicida
fratricida
matricida
omicida
parricida

lo/la psichiatra OR gli psichiatri/le
psichiatre in the plural
pediatra
COMMON IRREGULAR NOUNS THAT
DON’T CHANGE ENDING IN PLURAL
Monosyllabic nouns:


il re—i re
la gru—le gru (crane)
Nouns ending in a stressed vowel:

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la virtù—le virtù
il caffè—i caffè
la città—le città
la novità—le novità
la possibilità—le possibilità
l’entità—le entità
Feminine nouns ending in -o:

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

la dinamo/le dinamo (generator)
la radio/le radio
la moto/le moto (la motocicletta)
l’auto/le auto (la auto machina)
la foto/le foto (la fotographia)
la biro/le biro
Feminine nouns ending in -ie

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

la serie/le serie
la specie/le specie (species)
la congerie/le congerie
la barbarie/le barbarie (savagery)
la progenie—le progenie (offspring)
la bracie—le bracie (arms)
Masc/Feminine nouns ending in -i




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
il brindisi—i brindisi (toast)
la metropoli—le metropoli
la diocesi—le diocesi (diocese)
l’analisi—le analisi
l’oasi—le oasi
la diagnosi—le diagnosi
l’ipotesi—le ipotesi
il bisturi—i bisturi (scalpel)
la crisi (crisis)
Nouns ending in a consonant, usually of
foreign origin:

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








il film/i film
lo sport/gli sport
il bar/i bar
il gas/i gas
il tram/i tram
il goal/i goal
il quiz/i quiz
il bit/i bit
l’autobus(m)/gli autobus
il computer/i computer
il parquet/i parquet
NOTE: foreign nouns not yet part of standard
Italian, usually form the plural according to the
rules of the language of origin:


il timer—i timers
il maquillager—i maquillages
(cosmetics)
MASCULINE NOUNS ENDING IN -A

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
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

il vaglia—i vaglia
il boa—i boa
il boia—i boia (executioner)
il gorilla—i gorilla
il sosia—i sosia (double)
il delta—i delta
Ending in MA
Many are of Greek in origin and share these
endings:


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


-amma
-emma
-ma
-ma
-eta
Other foreign nouns (foreign nouns
are masculine), e.g. cinema, gorilla
Examples
-MMA

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

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
il diaframma
il diagramma
il dramma
il programma
il telegramma
il dilemma
lo stemma
-MA (oma, ama, sma)
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l’aroma
il diploma
l’idioma
il cataclisma
lo fantasma
il prisma
l’esteta
il pianeta
il poeta
il profeta
il poema
il problema
il sistema
il tema (theme)
il teorema
il panorama
il clima (climate)
il papa (Pope)
il pigiama (PJs)
il paradigma
il cobra
il coma
il cruciverba (crossword)
il cinema
il lama
il problema
il sistema