Learning to work with Singular and Plural Italian nouns
Making singular nouns plural
To make a singular noun ending in “o” plural, change the “o” to “i”. Here is an example;Bambino (little boy) to Bambini (little boys)
Special note: when the “o” is preceded by an “i” you just drop the “o” and do not add a second “i”. Here is an example;
Negozio (store) Negozi (stores)
To make a singular noun ending in “a” plural, change the “a” to “e”. Here is an example;
Bambina (little girl) to Bambine (little girls)
Special note: when the “a” is preceded by an “c” or “g” you must add an “h” before the “e” in order to maintain the hard “c” or “g” sound. Here is an example;
Amica (friend) Amiche (friends)
To make a singular noun ending in “e” plural, change the “e” to “i”. Here is an example;
Dottore (doctor) to Dottori (doctors)
Nouns ending with an accented vowel or a consonant are invariable and do not change. Example;
il sport (the sport) i sport (the sports) & la città (the city) le città (the cities)
| You can learn more about Singular vs Plural in Italian (otherwise known as "Number") on pages 10 - 12 of the book "English Grammar for Students of Italian" by Sergio Adorni and Karen Primorac, copyright 1995. If you do not own this book, don't worry, it is not mandatory that you do. However, it can be very useful in a lot of ways and if you would like to know more about this book and where to buy it, click on the graphic link to the right or simply go to our online bookstore. | You can learn more about Singular vs Plural in Italian (otherwise known as "Number") on pages 24 - 25 (page #'s may vary as I have an older edition) of "Ciao", copyright 1986. If you do not own this book, don't worry, it is not mandatory that you do. However, it can be very useful in a lot of ways and if you would like to know more about this book and where to buy it, click on the graphic link to the right or simply go to our online bookstore. |
