{"id":7428,"date":"2020-08-14T16:42:37","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T16:42:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/?p=7428"},"modified":"2020-09-18T08:26:27","modified_gmt":"2020-09-18T08:26:27","slug":"the-utalk-guide-to-italian-plurals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/the-utalk-guide-to-italian-plurals\/","title":{"rendered":"The uTalk Guide to Italian Plurals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/GettyImages-1032566746.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7485\" width=\"537\" height=\"537\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>If you\u2019re learning Italian, one of the first issues you may have come across is how on earth do plurals work? But, don\u2019t despair! Norma, uTalk\u2019s Marketing Intern (and Italian extraordinaire!) has created this guide to help you so you\u2019ll never have to worry about those pesky plurals again.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding: 2em 1em 2em 1em;\">\n<h2>Contents<\/h2>\n<ul><li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#plurals\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">1. Identifying Gender<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<ul><li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#articles\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">1.1 Articles<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#gender\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">1.2 General Rules to identifying Gender<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#except\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">1.3 Exceptions<\/a><\/p><\/li><\/ul>\n<li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#general\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">2. General Rules to Plurals <\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#exceptions\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">3. Exceptions<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#irregular\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">4. Irregular Plurals<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<ul><li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#biggest\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">4.1 The biggest changes from singular to plural<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#changegender\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">4.2 Plurals that change gender<\/a><\/p><\/li><\/ul>\n<li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#final\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">5. Final thoughts<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>While it may seem like there are a lot of exceptions and rules to remember when it comes to making nouns plural in Italian, just keep in mind that very common words (e.g. \u2018il problema\u2019 &#8211; the problem) that don\u2019t quite follow the rules you\u2019re familiar with will be easily memorised because of how often they come up.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, some of these exceptions are words that you may not even need to use very much, and you will find that lots of Italian words used every day <em>do<\/em> follow the common rules!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding: 1em 0em 1em 0em;\"><h2 id=\"plurals\"><strong>1. Identifying Gender<\/strong><\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In Italian, nouns and adjectives can be masculine or feminine. In order to know which article to use and how to make it plural, we must first know the gender of the word!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding: 1em 0em 1em 0em;\"><h2 id=\"articles\"><strong>1.1 Articles<\/strong><\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the article is placed before the noun, let\u2019s begin with the seven articles of Italian;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>*Singular is on the left and plural is on the right*<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Masculine Articles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>Il, Lo (before s + consonant, ps, gn, z y) \u2192 I, Gli (plural of lo, also used before vowels)<\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Feminine Articles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>La \u2192 Le<\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Either masculine or feminine:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>L&#8217; (used before vowels) \u2192 Gli, Le (depending on gender)<\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Examples: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p><strong>Il<\/strong> cavallo (the horse)<strong> \u2192 I <\/strong>cavalli<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Lo<\/strong> studente (the student),<strong> lo<\/strong> psicologa (the psychologist), <strong>lo<\/strong> gnocco (singular gnocchi), <strong>lo<\/strong> zaino (the backpack) \u2192<strong> Gli <\/strong>studenti, <strong>gli <\/strong>psicologi, <strong>gli<\/strong> gnocchi,<strong> gli <\/strong>zaini<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>La<\/strong> donna (the woman)<strong> \u2192 Le<\/strong> donne<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>L\u2019<\/strong>anatra (the duck) \u2192 <strong>Le<\/strong> anatre<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>L\u2019<\/strong>anno (the year) \u2192&nbsp; <strong>Gli<\/strong> anni<\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding: 1em 0em 1em 0em;\"><h2 id=\"gender\"><strong>1.2 General Rules to Identifying Gender<\/strong><\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In most cases, words ending with an -o are masculine and singular, and words ending with an -a are feminine and singular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As mentioned above: \u2018il cavall<strong>o<\/strong>\u2019 is masculine, whilst \u2018la donn<strong>a<\/strong>\u2019 is feminine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding: 1em 0em 1em 0em;\"><h2 id=\"except\"><strong>1.3 Exceptions<\/strong><\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, there are a couple of exceptions to the gender rules, which will change the way words are made into plurals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Feminine words that end in -o:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>La man<strong>o<\/strong> (the hand)\u2192 le man<strong>i<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>La radi<strong>o<\/strong> \u2192 le radi<strong>o<\/strong> (this does not change because it is a shortened version of the formal word \u2018la radiotelefonia\u2019 which becomes \u2018le radiotelefonie\u2019)<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>La fot<strong>o<\/strong> (the photo) \u2192 le fot<strong>o<\/strong> (this does not change because it is a shortened version of \u2018la fotografia\u2019 which becomes \u2018le fotografie\u2019)<\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Masculine words that end in -a:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>Il problem<strong>a<\/strong> (masculine but ends in an -a) \u2192 i problemi<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Il poet<strong>a<\/strong> (the poet) \u2192 i poeti<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>L\u2019artist<strong>a<\/strong> \u2192 gli artisti (m)\/le artiste (f) (artists)<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Il dentist<strong>a<\/strong> \u2192 i dentisti\/le dentiste<\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/GettyImages-899907172-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7484\" width=\"736\" height=\"489\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/GettyImages-899907172-3-250x167.jpg 250w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/GettyImages-899907172-3-120x80.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 736px) 100vw, 736px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding: 1em 0em 1em 0em;\"><h2 id=\"general\"><strong>2. General Rules to Plurals<\/strong><\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Generally, words that end in -o change to an -i when made plural, and words that end in an -a change to an -e:<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>Il cavall<strong>o<\/strong> (the horse) \u2192 i cavall<strong>i<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>La donn<strong>a<\/strong> (the woman) \u2192 le donn<strong>e<\/strong><br><\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Regardless of gender, words that end in -e change to an -i:<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>M: Il fior<strong>e<\/strong> (the flower) \u2192 i fior<strong>i<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>F: La legg<strong>e<\/strong> (the law) \u2192 le legg<strong>i<\/strong><br><\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Words that end in -\u00e0 or -\u00f9 never change from singular to plural:<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>La citt<strong>\u00e0<\/strong> (the city) \u2192 le citt<strong>\u00e0<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>La virt<strong>\u00f9<\/strong> (virtue) \u2192 le virt<strong>\u00f9<\/strong><br><\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Words taken from other languages also don\u2019t change:<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>Il computer \u2192 i computer<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lo yogurt \u2192 gli yogurt<\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding: 1em 0em 1em 0em;\"><h2 id=\"exceptions\"><strong>3. Exceptions<\/strong><\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Some<\/em> words that end in -co or -go also respectively change to -chi (pronounced like \u2018ki\u2019): and -ghi (pronounced like the \u2018g\u2019 in \u2018geese\u2019) to maintain the same sound.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>Po<strong>co<\/strong> (a little, not much) \u2192 Po<strong>chi<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Il luo<strong>go<\/strong> (the place) \u2192 I luo<strong>ghi<\/strong><\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Others change to -ci (pronounced like the \u2018ch\u2019 in cheese) and -gi (pronounced like the \u2018g\u2019 in \u2018gym\u2019)<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>L\u2019ami<strong>co<\/strong> (the friend) \u2192 Gli ami<strong>ci<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>L\u2019aspara<strong>go<\/strong> (asparagus) \u2192 gli aspara<strong>gi<\/strong><br><\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Words that end in -ca and -ga respectively become -che and -ghe to maintain the \u2018c\u2019 and \u2018g\u2019 sounds:<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>L\u2019ami<strong>ca<\/strong> (friend &#8211; feminine) \u2192 le ami<strong>che<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>L\u2019al<strong>ga<\/strong> (seaweed) \u2192 le al<strong>ghe<\/strong><br><\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>How to make the plural of words that end in -gia:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the -g is preceded by a vowel, the -g is followed by an -i.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>La val<strong>igia<\/strong> (suitcase) \u2192 le vali<strong>gie<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>La cil<strong>iegia<\/strong> (cherry) \u2192 le cilieg<strong>ie<\/strong><br><\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>However, when the -g is preceded by a consonant (another -g in this case!), the -g is <strong>not <\/strong>followed by an -i.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>La spia<strong>ggia <\/strong>\u2192 le spiagg<strong>e <\/strong>(no \u2018i\u2019 before the \u2018e\u2019!)<\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding: 1em 0em 1em 0em;\"><h2 id=\"irregular\"><strong>4. Irregular Plurals<\/strong><\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding: 1em 0em 1em 0em;\"><h2 id=\"biggest\"><strong>4.1 The biggest changes from singular to plural<\/strong><\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>L&#8217;uom<strong>o<\/strong> (the man) \u2192 i uom<strong>ini<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>D<strong>io<\/strong> (God) \u2192 d<strong>\u00e8i<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mi<strong>o<\/strong> (My\/mine) \u2192 mi<strong>ei<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tu<strong>o<\/strong> (Your(s))\u2192 tu<strong>oi<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Su<strong>o<\/strong> (His\/hers) \u2192 su<strong>oi<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bell<strong>o<\/strong> (Beautiful) \u2192 belli\/be<strong>i<\/strong>\/be<strong>gli<\/strong>) <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>a) Belli &#8211; used when adjective is <strong>placed after<\/strong> the noun e.g. <strong>fiori belli <\/strong>(beautiful flowers)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>b) Bei &#8211; used when adjective is <strong>placed before <\/strong>the noun, when <strong>\u2018i\u2019<\/strong> article is used e.g. <strong>\u2018bei fiori\u2019 <\/strong>(beautiful flowers) &#8211; bei is used here because \u2018the flowers\u2019 is translated as \u2018<strong>i<\/strong> fiori\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>c) Begli &#8211; used when adjective is <strong>placed before <\/strong> the noun, when <strong>\u2018gli\u2019<\/strong> article is used e.g. <strong>\u2018gli occhi\u2019<\/strong> (the eyes) become<strong> \u2018begli occhi\u2019<\/strong> (beautiful eyes)<\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Quell<strong>o<\/strong> (That\/that one) \u2192 quelli\/que<strong>i<\/strong>\/que<strong>gli<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly to bello, the plurals for \u2018quello\u2019 depend on whether the adjective is placed before or after the noun, and whether the \u2018i\u2019 or \u2018gli\u2019 article is used.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since there is no feminine equivalent to \u2018gli\u2019 because there is only one feminine plural article, the feminine plural of quello (quella) only has <strong>one<\/strong> option: \u2018<strong>quelle<\/strong>\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lastly, this is a list of some commonly used words which either change from one gender to the other when made plural, or can take either masculine or feminine endings &#8211; don\u2019t worry, the most commonly used gender is in bold!<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding: 1em 0em 1em 0em;\"><h2 id=\"changegender\"><strong>4.2 Plurals that change gender<\/strong><\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>*Singular is on the left, and plural is on the right*<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> Un migliaio (around one thousand of something) \u2192 migliaia&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>a) Un migliaio di scatole (around one thousand boxes)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>b) Due migliaia di scatole (around two thousand boxes)<\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Mille (one thousand) \u2192 Mila<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>a) Mille borse\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>b) Due mila borse<\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Un paio (a pair) \u2192 paia&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>a) Un be<strong>l<\/strong> paio di jeans (a beautiful pair of jeans)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>b) Due bell<strong>e <\/strong>paia di jeans (two beautiful pairs of jeans)<\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>L\u2019uovo (the egg) \u2192 le uova<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>a) L\u2019uovo \u00e8 buon<strong>o<\/strong> (the egg is good)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>b) Le uova sono buon<strong>e<\/strong> (the eggs are good)<\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Il carcere (prison) \u2192 le carceri<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>a) Il carcere \u00e8 piccol<strong>o<\/strong> (the prison is small)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>b) Le carceri sono piccol<strong>e<\/strong> (the prisons are small)<\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Both masculine and feminine plurals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>*the most commonly used term is in <strong>bold<\/strong>*<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><p>Il braccio (arm) \u2192\u00a0 i bracci\/<strong>le braccia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Il ciglio (eyelash) \u2192 i cigli\/<strong>le ciglia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Il sopracciglio (eyebrow) \u2192 i sopraccigli\/<strong>le sopracciglia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Il dito (finger) \u2192 I diti\/<strong>le dita<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Il ginocchio (knee) \u2192 i ginocchi\/<strong>le ginocchia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Il labbro (lip) \u2192 i labbri\/<strong>le labbra<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Il membro (member)\u2192 <strong>i membri<\/strong>\/le membra<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>L\u2019osso (bone; masculine) \u2192 i ossi\/<strong>le ossa<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Il lenzuolo (bed sheet) \u2192 i lenzuoli\/<strong>le lenzuola<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Il muro (wall) \u2192 <strong>i muri<\/strong> (used for a house, garden or road)\/le mura (less common; used in reference to the old walls of a city)<\/p><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many more examples of words with both masculine and feminine plurals. However, the words which we have decided not to include in this list either stay the same gender in the plural the vast majority of the time, or are only sometimes changed in literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding: 1em 0em 1em 0em;\"><h2 id=\"final\"><strong>5. Final Thoughts<\/strong><\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>It might seem quite complicated, but it\u2019s much easier than it looks! Since plurals come up so often in spoken and written Italian, it\u2019s something that you can acquire along the way just by exposing yourself to the language!<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to practise your plurals, try challenging yourself by changing any new vocabulary that you may come across into the singular or plural form and see if you get it correct.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Watching films or TV shows in Italian can be really great too! Try putting the subtitles on in Italian and checking how the plurals are spelt &#8211; this is especially useful for times when Italians speak quickly or use some dialect (which is typically translated into Italian in the subtitles!).<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In bocca al lupo!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/GettyImages-1149141509.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7471\" width=\"511\" height=\"511\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re learning Italian, one of the first issues you may have come across is how on earth do plurals work? But, don\u2019t despair! Norma, uTalk\u2019s Marketing Intern (and Italian extraordinaire!) has created this guide to help you so you\u2019ll never have to worry about those pesky plurals again. Contents 1. Identifying Gender 1.1 Articles &#8230; <a title=\"The uTalk Guide to Italian Plurals\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/the-utalk-guide-to-italian-plurals\/\" aria-label=\"More on The uTalk Guide to Italian Plurals\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,231,3],"tags":[32,64,333],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7428"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7428\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}