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Punto di partenza

A noun is a word that identifies a person, animal, place, thing, or idea. As in English, Italian nouns are singular or plural. All Italian nouns also have gender, even those that refer to objects; they are either masculine or feminine.

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• Nouns that refer to males are usually masculine, and those that refer to females are usually feminine. One exception is persona (person), a feminine noun that can refer to a man or a woman.

feminine

amica (female) friend

attrice actress

studentessa (female) student

masculine

amico (male) friend

attore actor

studente (male) student

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• Usually, nouns that end in -o are masculine, and nouns that end in -a are feminine.

feminine

casa house

domanda question

idea idea

masculine

libro book

tạvolo table

ufficio office

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• Nouns that end in -e may be either masculine or feminine. Memorize the gender of these nouns as you learn them.

feminine

automọbile car

notte night

masculine

esame exam

ristorante restaurant

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• Nouns ending in a consonant or -ore are masculine, and nouns ending in -ione are feminine.

feminine

lezione lesson

stazione station

televisione television

masculine

ạutobus bus

computer computer

dottore (male) doctor

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• To form the plural of most Italian nouns, you need to change the final vowel. The masculine ending -o becomes -i, and the feminine ending -a becomes -e. Regardless of gender, singular nouns ending in -e change the vowel to -i to form the plural.

singular

masculineragazzo boy ragazzi boys

ristorante restaurant ristoranti restaurants

femininedonna woman donne women

notte night notti nights

plural

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• When referring to an all-male group or a mixed group of males and females, use the masculine plural form.

gli amicithe (male and female) friends

gli studentithe (male and female) students

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• To form the plural of most nouns ending in -co, -ca, -go, and -ga, add an h in order to maintain the hard c or g sound. One exception is amico, which becomes amici.

plural

alberghi hotels

amiche friends

singular

albergo hotel

amica friend

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• Shortened nouns and nouns that end in a consonant or accented vowel do not change from the singular to the plural.

plural

due foto two photos

due ạutobus two buses

due caffè two coffees

singular

una foto a photo

un ạutobus a bus

un caffè coffee

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Articles

• The indefinite article refers to an unspecified person or thing and corresponds to the English a/an.

before . . .

masculinez or s + consonant uno studente a student

a vowel or other consonants un uomo a man

femininea vowel un’idea an idea

a consonant una città a city

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• The definite article (the) indicates a specific person or thing.

singular before . . .

masculine

a vowel l’autore the author gli autori the authors

z or s + consonant lo sport the sport gli sport the sports

other consonants il libro the book i libri the books

plural

femininea vowel l’amica the friend le amiche the friends

a consonant la casa the house le case the houses

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Maschile (masculine) or femminile (feminine)?

1. ragazzo ______________

2. ufficio ______________

3. attrice ______________

4. caffè __________

5. dottore __________

6. notte ______________

7. computer ______________

8. stazione ______________

9. idea __________

10. studente __________

maschile