Number: singular and plural in Italian noun

11 Masculine nouns ending in -o, and all nouns ending in -e, end in -i in the plural: * Nouns ending in -ie have only one -i in the plural. 12 Nouns ending in -io have only one i in the plural. But if the -i is stressed (-io), the plural has two (-ii): 13 Feminine nouns ending in -a take -e in the plural: 14 Masculine nouns ending in -a take -i in the plural: 15 When a noun ending in -a denotes a person, its plural ending depends on whether it is masculine or feminine. If it refers to a male, the plural ends in -i; if it refers to a female, the plural ends in -e: Singular il treno [m] il nome [m] la notte [f] la stazione [f] la pensione [f] il/la parente [m/f] la moglie [f] train name/noun night station pension relative wife Plural i treni i nomi le notti le stazioni le pensioni i/le parenti le mogli* trains names/nouns nights stations pensions relatives wives Singular il bacio [m] il desiderio [m] l’inizio [m] lo zio [m] il mormorio [m] kiss wish beginning uncle murmur Plural i baci i desideri gli inizi gli zii i mormorii kisses wishes beginnings uncles murmurs Singular la sorella [f] la lettera [f] la sera [f] sister letter evening Plural le sorelle le lettere le sere sisters letters evenings Singular il problema [m] il sistema [m] problem system Plural i problemi i sistemi problems systems For an explanation of the -h- in these endings, see paragraph 20 below. 16 Nouns ending in -i do not change in the plural: 17 Foreign nouns, and nouns stressed on the last vowel, do not change in the plural: 18 A number of nouns are irregular in the plural. E.g. la mano [f] (hand) becomes le mani in the plural, l’uomo [m] (man) becomes gli uomini in the plural. Here are some nouns which do not change in the plural, because they are abbreviations (cf. above, paragraph 6): Singular il pianista [m] (male) pianist la pianista [f] (female) pianist il collega [m] (male) colleague la collega [f] (female) colleague Plural i pianisti [m] (male) pianists le pianiste [f] (female) pianists i colleghi* [m] (male) colleagues le colleghe* [f] (female) colleagues Singular l’analisi [f] la crisi [f] analysis crisis Plural le analisi le crisi analyses crises Singular il bar [m] lo sport [m] la città [f] la virtù [f] bar sport city virtue Plural i bar gli sport le città le virtù bars sports cities virtues Some nouns are masculine in the singular but feminine in the plural. Here are a few: il dito [m] il centinaio [m] il migliaio [m] il miglio [m] il paio [m] l’uovo [m] finger (about) a hundred (about) a thousand mile pair egg Plural le dita [f] le centinaia [f] le migliaia [f] le miglia [f] le paia [f] le uova [f] fingers hundreds thousands miles pairs eggs 19 Note that, in Italian, the masculine form of a noun is also used when the gender is not important. A noun in the plural may therefore designate any one of three different sets of people: gli amici gli insegnanti i colleghi either a specific set of male friends [as in ‘Your friends (Luigi and Giovanni) have arrived.’] or a specific mixed set of male and female friends [as in ‘Your friends (Luigi and Anna) have arrived.’] or friends in general [whether male and female does not matter, as in ‘Everybody needs friends.’] either a specific set of male teachers or a specific mixed set of male and female teachers or teachers in general [regardless of gender] either a specific set of male colleagues or a specific mixed set of male and female colleagues or colleagues in general [regardless of gender]