Forming Plural Nouns in Italian

Forming Plural Nouns in Italian When you have just one bottiglia di vino  (bottle of wine), especially from one of the many family-run vineyards in Tuscany, you’re doing pretty well. But, if you have several  bottiglie di vino (bottles of wine), youre doing even better. Learning to speak fluent Italian requires that you understand the difference between singular and plural nouns. Turning singular nouns into plurals in Italian is a bit more difficult than in English. Learn the rules, though, and soon youll be able to turn one  bottiglia  into two or more  bottiglie  with ease. Creating Plural Nouns in Italian In Italian grammar, nouns must  agree not only in gender (masculine or feminine) but also in number (singular and plural). To form the plural of Italian nouns, vowel endings change to indicate a change in number. For regular masculine nouns that end in -o, for example, the ending typically changes to -i in the plural: Singular Plural English (Plural) fratello fratelli brothers libro libri books nonno nonni grandparents ragazzo ragazzi boys vino vini wines Plural Feminine Nouns Ending in -A As noted, the ending of plural nouns needs to change to agree  in gender. Regular feminine nouns that end in -a generally take an  -e ending in the plural: Singular Plural English (Plural) sorella sorelle sisters casa case houses penna penne pens pizza pizze pizzas ragazza ragazze girls Plural Nouns Ending in -E Plural nouns that end in  -e  (feminine or masculine) generally end in -i in the plural form. Singular Plural English (Plural) bicchiere bicchieri wine glasses chiave chiavi keys fiume fiumi rivers frase frasi sentences padre padri fathers Words of Foreign Origin When forming plural of nouns ending in a consonant, such as words of foreign origin, only the article changes, as in these examples, where the singular is listed on the left together with the English translation and the plural is printed on the right: Il film (the film) i film (the films)La photo (the photo) le photo (the photos)Il bar (the bar) I bar (the bars) Exceptions Its also important to know the exceptions when forming plural nouns, including: Feminine nouns ending in -ea change to -ee in the plural. For example: dea/dee (goddess/goddesses).Words that end with a grave accent, such as  la citt, (the city),  change only the final letter of the article, making the plural of this word,  le citt (the cities).Feminine nouns ending in -ca change to -che in the plural, as in  amica/amiche (friend/friends). For nouns ending in -e,  the plural forms end in -i   regardless of whether they are masculine or feminine. Additionally, some nouns appear to be feminine (ending in -a)  but are actually masculine, as in these examples: Il poeta i poeti / poet poetsIl poema i poemi / poem poemsIl problema i problemi / problem problemsIl tema i temi / topic topicsIl braccio le braccia / arm armsIl dito le dita / finger fingersIl labbro le labbra / lip lipsIl ginocchio le ginocchia / knee kneesIl lenzuolo le lenzuola / sheet sheetsIl muro I muri / wall walls The walls would be le mura  if you are talking about buildings, particularly historical buildings.