About plural – sopra i plurali
The plural in Italian is quite different from the plural in
English or any other romance languages such as Spanish, French
or Portuguese. The general rule in English is to add the letter
" s " at the end of a word.
In Italian the general rule is to substitute the last letter
of a a masculine word for the vowel " i " or if it is a feminine
word the general rule is to substitute the last letter for the
vowel " e ".
|
Singular |
Plural |
Translation |
|
Il libro |
I libri |
The book – the books |
|
La tavola |
le
tavole |
The table – The tables |
|
Il bambino |
i bambini |
The baby –
the babies |
|
La ragazza |
Le ragazze |
The girl - the girls |
Words ending in co/ go or cio/gio
In order to
keep the sound of singular words ending in co/go or cio/gio
there are some specific rules.
Most of the
words ending in "co" and "go" follow the general rule that was
mentioned above, but in some cases the pronunciation is changed
when the vowel “i” is added to form the plural.
Usually words
ending in VCV (vowel - consonant - vowel) have the pronunciation
changed in the plural. Words ending in CCV (consonant –
consonant – vowel) do not have the pronunciation changed but
some orthographic adjustments may be necessary in order to keep
the sound of the word. Study the chart below:
|
Singular |
Plural |
Translation |
Observation |
|
L'amico |
Gli amici |
The friend – the friends |
The rule is the same
but the pronunciation of the "c" is different.
|
|
Il medico |
I medici |
The (medical) doctor - the doctors |
The rule is the same
but the pronunciation of the "c" is different |
|
Tedesco |
Tedeschi
('Tedesci' would change
the pronunciation) |
German - Germans |
The rule is different
but the pronunciation of the "c" is the same |
|
Il fungo |
I funghi
('fungi' would change
the pronunciation) |
The mushroom - the mushrooms |
The rule is different
but the pronunciation of the "g" is the same |
|
Il dialogo |
I dialoghi
('dialogi' would change
the pronunciation) |
The dialogue - the dialogues |
The rule is different
but the pronunciation of the "g" is the same |
Words ending in "cio", "zio" and "gio" are subjected to a
different rule. To get the word pluralized you just must drop
the last vowel.
|
Singular |
Plural |
Translation |
Observation |
|
Il bacio |
I baci (not 'bacioi') |
The kiss – the
kisses |
The pronunciation of
the "c" is the same although the rule is different. |
|
Il carpaccio |
I carpacci
(not 'carpaccii') |
The carpaccio (food) - The 'carpaccios' |
The pronunciation of
the "c" is the same although the rule is different. |
|
Il negozio |
I negozi
(not 'i negozioi) |
The transaction - the transactions |
The pronunciation of
the "z" is the same although the rule is different. |
|
Il vantaggio |
I vantaggi |
The advantage |
The pronunciation of
the "g" is the same although the rule is different. |
Some words ending in "è" or "à" don’t suffer any changes when
pluralized and some words can be masculine in the singular form
and feminine in the plural form.
|
Singular |
Plural |
Translation |
Observation |
|
Il caffè |
I caffè |
The coffee –
The coffee |
The same word must be
used in the singular and in the plural. |
|
La città |
Le città |
The city –
The cities |
The same word must be
used in the singular and in the plural. |
|
La foto
(la fotografia) |
Le foto |
The photo –
The photos |
The same word must be
used in the singular and in the plural. |
|
Il labbro |
Le labbra |
The lip –
The lips |
The word is masculine
in the singular and feminine in the plural. |
|
L'uovo |
Le uova |
The egg –
The eggs |
The word is masculine
in the singular and feminine in the plural. |
|
Il paio |
Le paia |
The couple –
The couples |
The word is masculine
in the singular and feminine in the plural. |
|
Il braccio |
Le braccia |
The arm –
The arms |
The word is masculine
in the singular and feminine in the plural. |
|
