Italian nouns. Genders and plurals A1

Hello my Italian fellow learners! Here is an article about Italian nouns for beginners.
Italian nouns have a gender and number pattern. Most nouns have a predictable pattern, and a few of them are ” irregular ” not following a precise scheme.

Generally, nouns indicating people and animals have both genders, nouns stating things have a gender fixed by grammar, and nouns ending with -E are miscellaneous. To determine the gender of a noun look at the end of the word.

Genders

• NOUNS ENDING WITH -O are usually masculine singular

• NOUNS ENDING WITH -A are usually feminine singular

• NOUNS ENDING WITH -E are miscellaneous, to determine their gender, look at the noun’s surroundings (articles, adjectives).

EX. ” Il pied-E piccol-O ” the word piede is next to a masculine singular adjective ending with -O.

EX. ” La chiav-E piccol-A ” the word chiave is next to a feminine singular adjective ending with -A.

• NOUNS ENDING WITH A CONSONANT are masculine singular.

Plurals

To pluralise a noun observe the end of it.

• NOUNS ENDING WITH -O are pluralised with -I

EX. ” Un ragazz-O ” ( a boy ) ” Due ragazz-I ” ( two boys )

” Un tavol-O ” ( a table ) ” Due tavol-I ” ( two tables )

• NOUNS ENDING WITH -A are pluralised with -E

EX. ” Una ragazza ” ( a girl ) ” Due ragazz-E ” ( two girls )

” Una mel-A ” ( an apple ) ” Due mel-E ” ( two apples )

• NOUNS ENDING WITH A CONSONANT don’t change

Remember that nouns, determiners, and adjectives must agree with each other in gender and number.