G-2: Nouns

Il nome

In Italian, every noun (nome) has a gender (masculine or feminine) and a number (singular or plural).

Gender of Nouns

Nouns ending in -o are usually masculine.
- treno → train (m.)
- ristorante → restaurant (m.)
Nouns ending in -a are usually feminine.
- casa → house (f.)
- stazione → station (f.)
Nouns ending in -e can be masculine or feminine.
- dottore (m.) → doctor
- lezione (f.) → lesson

Notes:

Nouns ending in -ore or a consonant are masculine (fiore, autobus, sport).
Nouns ending in -ione are generally feminine (presentazione, conversazione).

Plural of Nouns

The plural is usually formed by changing the final vowel:

Singular → Plural	Example
-o → -i	un libro → due libri
-a → -e	una casa → due case
-e → -i	un dottore → due dottori
-e → -i	una stazione → due stazioni

Exceptions

Invariable nouns: no change in plural.
- Accented vowels: una città → due città, un caffè → due caffè
- Consonants: un bar → due bar, un film → due film
- Abbreviations: un cinema(tografo) → due cinema
Nouns in –ca and –ga: keep the hard sound with -che / -ghe.
- un’amica → due amiche
- una riga → due righe
Nouns in –io: usually drop one i in the plural.
- un negozio → due negozi
- un ufficio → due uffici

Common Exceptions

Some nouns don’t follow the usual gender rules. Watch out for these, attenzione!

la mano (hand) → feminine, even though it ends in –o.
il problema (problem) → masculine, even though it ends in –a.
il poeta (poet) → masculine, even though it ends in –a.
la foto (photo) → feminine, short for fotografia.
la radio (radio) → feminine, short for radiotelefonia.
and many more!!

We hope this lesson was helpful and gave you more clarity on your Italian learning journey. Keep practicing step by step, every word you learn brings you closer to fluency!

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