A1 · The noun
The final vowel
Nothing is added — the vowel changes.
Masculine in -o, plural -i: il libro → i libri. Feminine in -a, plural -e: la casa → le case.
Nouns in -e can be either gender, and their plural is always -i: il fiore → i fiori, la chiave → le chiavi. Here the gender has to be learnt with the word.
Nothing is appended. That is the whole difference from English, and it is bigger than it looks: the English plural is a suffix, so an English speaker's instinct is to keep the word and add something to the end. Italian keeps the word and *replaces* its last letter, which means the singular is not visible inside the plural.
The -s is therefore the mistake to watch for, and it survives longer than any other because it is invisible while you are speaking. due libros, tre casas, i films — all wrong, and all imported.
Words with a stressed final vowel and foreign words do not change at all: la città → le città, il bar → i bar, il film → i film. English words in particular keep their English singular: one film, two film.
Die Form
| the book — the books | il libro — i libri |
| the house — the houses | la casa — le case |
| the flower — the flowers | il fiore — i fiori |
| the key — the keys | la chiave — le chiavi |
| the town — the towns | la città — le città |
| the bar — the bars | il bar — i bar |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
In the plural the vowel changes; nothing is added.
Ho due fratelli e tre sorelle.I have two brothers and three sisters.
Nouns in -e always take -i in the plural.
Le chiavi e i fiori sono sul tavolo.The keys and the flowers are on the table.
A stressed final vowel never changes.
Ho visitato tre città in una settimana.I visited three cities in a week.
Foreign words stay as they are.
Guardiamo due film stasera.We are watching two films this evening.
Woran man es erkennt
- -o / -i
- -a / -e
- -e / -i
Beispielsätze
I ragazzi giocano con le ragazze.The boys are playing with the girls.
Ho comprato due giornali e tre riviste.I bought two newspapers and three magazines.
Le stazioni sono grandi.The stations are big.
Prendiamo due caffè, per favore.Two coffees, please.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
There is no added -s in Italian, in any word or any plural. due libros, tre casas, i films are all wrong, and they all come across from another language. English is the worst offender here, because its plural is nothing but that -s — and the borrowed words are the most dangerous of all, since i film looks unfinished to an English eye.
The vowel changes; nothing is added.
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