il greco → i greci
the Greek → the Greeks
il porco → i porci
the pig → the pigs
ItalianNouns
You can form the of most Italian by changing the ending to -i or -e. The correct plural ending for a given word will depend on the singular form of the noun and also on its . For example:
bambino → bambini
child → children
casa → case
house → houses
However, some Italian nouns do have plurals or use the same form in the plural that they use in the singular. In this post, we’ll review the rules for making nouns plural (for regular plurals), and we’ll introduce you to some of the irregular plurals as well. Let’s check those rules out along with the exceptions!
What are the rules for making regular nouns plural in Italian?
Most plural nouns in Italian are formed just by changing the final vowel in the word, to -i or -e. Most commonly, you can decide which ending to use just by looking at the gender of the noun and the final of the singular form, but there are a few specific singular endings that have additional spelling and pronunciation changes in the plural.
Let’s look first at the simple vowel changes, then we’ll look at these rules for specific endings.
Italian plurals where only the vowel changes
As you can see, for most groups of nouns, the plural ending is -i, but for feminine nouns ending in -a, the plural ending is -e instead.
Gender | Singular ending | Example | Plural ending | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Masculine | -o | il bambino the child | -i | i bambini the children |
Feminine | -o | la mano the hand | -i | le mani the hands |
Masculine | -a | il poeta the poet | -i | i poeti the poets |
Feminine | -a | la casa the house | -e | le case the houses |
Masculine | -e | il fiore the flower | -i | i fiori the flowers |
Feminine | -e | la rete the net | -i | le reti the nets |
This is true also for singular nouns ending in -ista, both feminine and masculine:
Singular nouns (m. and f.) ending in -ista | Plural nouns (m.) | Plural nouns (f.) |
|---|---|---|
il/la farmacista the pharmacist | i farmacisti the pharmacists | le farmaciste the pharmacists |
Rules for pluralizing specific noun endings in Italian
Let’s look now at the specific noun endings that are pluralized a little differently from the rules we saw above. These nouns are still regular (i.e. they still follow rules), they just have a few more spelling and pronunciation rules to learn. Let’s have a look at some of these special endings:
Nouns ending in -cia and -gia
When the ending is preceded by a , change the ending to -cie or -gie:
la camicia → le camicie
the shirt → the shirts
When the ending is preceded by a change them to -ce or -ge instead:
l’arancia → le arance
the orange → the oranges
Nouns that end in -ca and -ga
When the noun is masculine, change the ending to -chi or -ghi
il duca → i duchi
the duke → the dukes
When the noun is feminine, change the ending to -che or -ghe
l’amica → le amiche
the friend (f.) → the friends (f.)
→ Notice that this rule preserves the “hard” pronunciation of “c” and “g” from the singular (as “k” and “g”), so that the endings aren’t pronounced with a “ch” or “j” sound.Two- nouns ending in -co or -go
The ending changes to -chi or -ghi, regardless of gender:
il cuoco → i cuochi
the cook → the cooks
il logo → i loghi
the logo → the logos
→ Again, this rule preserves the “hard” pronunciation of “c” and “g” from the singular.Exception!
Nouns with more than two syllables that end in -co or -go
If the ending is preceded by a consonant, change the ending to -chi or -ghi:
il tedesco → i tedeschi
the German → the Germans
l’albergo → gli alberghi
the hotel → the hotels
If the ending is preceded by a vowel, change the dining to -ci or -gi instead:
l’amico → gli amici
the friend → the friends
l’asparago → gli asparagi
the asparagus (one spear) → the asparagus (many spears)
Exception!
il carico → i carichi (the load → the loads)
l’obbligo → gli obblighi (the obligation → the obligations)
Nouns ending in -logo
If they refer to people, the ending changes to -logi:
lo psicologo → gli psicologi
the psychologist → the psychologists
Otherwise, the ending changes to -loghi:
il dialogo → i dialoghi
the dialogue → the dialogues
Masculine nouns that end in -io
The ending usually changes to a single -i:
il figlio → i figli
the son → the sons
But if the “i” is stressed, the plural changes to -ii instead:
lo zio → gli zii
/zee·o → zee·ee/
the uncle → the uncles
Want to see some more examples? Have a look at this extensive list of Italian nouns that fit into the above six groups!
But what about those nouns that do not even fit into the above six groups?
What are the most important groups of irregular plural nouns in Italian?
There are three main important groups of irregular plural nouns (i.e. nouns that don’t follow predictable rules) in Italian.
Nouns that keep the same , but take an irregular plural ending
For these, the plural just doesn’t fit the usual pattern, for example:
l’uovo → le uova
the egg → the eggs
Nouns that completely change their form in the plural
For these, the whole root, or at least the vowel, changes in the plural, as in:
bue → buoi
ox → oxen
Nouns that do not change at all in the plural
Just like “deer → deer” in English, these use the singular as the plural form. For example:
la città → le città
the city → the cities
Let’s go through these three groups to see some important examples and tips about using irregular nouns in each group.
Plurals which keep the same root, but take an irregular plural ending
The most important group of irregular nouns that keeps the same root, but takes an irregular plural ending are masculine singular nouns that end in -o, but take the ending -a in the plural:
l’uovo → le uova
the egg → the eggs
il dito → le dita
the finger → the fingers
Important
This group includes many nouns indicating parts of the body, but does not include mano(hand)which takes the regular ending -i:
la mano → le mani
Nouns which change root in the plural
Here are some of the most important nouns that change their root in the plural:
l’uomo → gli uomini
the man → the men
il dio → gli dei
the god → the gods
il bue → i buoi
the ox → the oxen
For an extensive list of irregular Italian nouns check out our table and this resource.
Now let’s get to the easiest part!
Nouns that do not change in the plural
There are four groups of nouns that have the same form in the singular and plural:
nouns with a stress on the last syllable, ending in -à, -è and -ù:
la città → le città(the city → the cities)
il caffè → i caffè(the coffee → the coffees)
la virtù → le virtù(the virtue → the virtues)
a few nouns ending in -o, especially abbreviations:
il video → i video(the video → the videos)
il stereo → gli stereo(the stereo → the stereos)
la moto → le moto(the motorbike → the motorbikes)
a few nouns ending in -ie:
la serie → le serie (the series (sg.) → the series (pl.))
la specie → le specie(the species (sg.) → the species (pl.))
Exception!
la moglie → le mogli
the wife, the wives
a few masculine nouns of foreign origin that end in a consonant:
l’hotel → gli hotel(the hotel → the hotels)
You can see more examples of Italian nouns that don’t change in the plural in our table. Also, if you want to see all the cases split by topic, refer to this table of Italian plurals by topic.
Important considerations about Italian plurals
To avoid confusion, it is important to mention a couple of points:
Some Italian nouns, called nomi sovrabbondanti(overabundant nouns), can have two different plurals, one masculine and one feminine, with two different meanings:
SingularPlural masculinePlural feminineil dito
the finger
i diti
each single finger
le dita
all the fingers in one hand
il grido
the cry
i gridi
the animal cries
le grida
the cries
We provide you with a list of the most common Italian overabundant nouns here.
Moreover, when comparing the Italian language to English, we notice how some words are plural in Italian but singular in English:
SingularPluralthe hair
i capelli(lit. the hairs)
the business
gli affari(lit. the affairs)
the news
le notizie(lit. the notices)
the furniture
i mobili
Similarly, la gente(people), a frequently used word, is singular in Italian, but plural in English.
Summary
In conclusion, making nouns plural in Italian is just a matter of vowels! We have seen that some nouns change their ending vowel according to specific patterns, others follow spelling rules, while some nouns are the same in the plural as in the singular. There are exceptions, but practice, along with our exercises, will do miracles! So...Let’s start! Buon lavoro!(Good work!)
