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Grammar · A1

Gender and number of nouns

by Alessio · teacher of Italian as a foreign language, ITALS master’s

Rows of identical seats: singular and plural · Italian grammar A1
Una poltrona, cento poltrone: here you can see the plural.

In Italian every noun has a gender, even il tavolo and la sedia. It is not logic, it is grammar: but the endings help almost every time, and the important exceptions can be counted on your fingers.

  • 5min reading
  • 17min exercises
  • A1level

What you learn

  • -o, -a, -e
  • How it works: gender and number of nouns
  • The exceptions you meet right away
  • Vocabulary: gli oggetti di casa

Italian and English side by side

English nouns have no gender: a table is an it. In Italian every noun is masculine or feminine, and the ending usually tells you which (-o masculine, -a feminine), with a large group in -e that you have to learn one by one. Plurals change the vowel instead of adding -s: libro → libri, casa → case. Getting the gender wrong is not fatal, but it drags the article and the adjective along with it.

Half of A1 and 3 exercises a day: freeApp Store★★★★★(7)by Alessio, a teacher since 2018Continue in the app →

The words on this page

Drag each Italian word onto its definition, or tap a word first, then its box.

The three families

SingularPluralGenderExamples around the house
-o-iquasi sempre maschileil letto / i letti, il divano / i divani
-a-equasi sempre femminilela cucina / le cucine, la finestra / le finestre
-e-iun po' e un po': va imparatola chiave / le chiavi, il bicchiere / i bicchieri
Nouns ending in -e do not reveal their gender: the article helps. Always learn noun and article together: la chiave, il giornale.

The exceptions you meet right away

TypeExamples
Maschili in -ail problema, il programma, il pigiama
Femminili in -ola mano / le mani, la radio, la foto
Accentati e stranieri: invariabilila città / le città, il caffè / i caffè, il bar / i bar
In -ca / -ga: plurale con hl’amica / le amiche, la bottega / le botteghe

The most common mistakes

  • la problema → il problema (masculine in -a, from Greek)
  • i mani → le mani (la mano is feminine)
  • le citte → le città (stressed-final nouns never change)
  • due caffi → due caffè (invariable)

Did you know?

New words get their gender by family resemblance: la mail is feminine because it echoes la posta, il computer is masculine like most loanwords ending in a consonant. Even the Accademia della Crusca gets asked about these choices: usage decides first, and the dictionaries follow.

Read and understand

This chapter’s grammar. Example: a grocery receipt.

CASA E DINTORNI

Via Garibaldi 12 · Bologna

14/03/26 10:42SCONTRINO N. 0148

2 sedie di legno58,00

1 lampada da tavolo24,50

4 bicchieri9,60

1 specchio grande39,00

3 asciugamani18,00

2 foto in cornice12,00

TOTALE EUR161,10

GRAZIE E ARRIVEDERCI

Questions

Quanti bicchieri compra?

Perché «foto» non cambia al plurale?

Il plurale di «specchio» è…

The inside of an old farmhouse kitchen, with pots, lamps and chairs
Le pentole, i lumi, le sedie: counting changes the word.

Exercises

Five exercises in order of difficulty. The last ones bring back what you have already seen.

  1. 01 Maschile o femminile?

    Write M or F. Look at the final vowel.

    1. libro →
    2. finestra →
    3. problema →
    4. chiave →
    5. giornale →
    6. città →
    7. cinema →
    8. mano →

  2. 02 Uno diventa due

    Write the plural.

    1. il tavolo →
    2. la sedia →
    3. il fiore →
    4. la notte →
    5. il bicchiere →
    6. la stazione →

  3. 03 Quelli che non cambiano

    Put into the plural. Some words do not change: only the article does.

    1. la città →
    2. il bar →
    3. il film →
    4. la foto →
    5. il caffè →
    6. l’università →
    7. lo sport →

  4. 04 -co, -go, -ca, -ga

    Plural. Remember that ch and gh keep the sound hard.

    1. l’amico →
    2. l’amica →
    3. il gioco →
    4. l’albergo →
    5. il medico →
    6. la banca →
    7. il lago →

  5. 05 Nella valigia

    Complete with article and noun in the plural, as in the example: una camicia → le camicie.

    Review articoli

    1. un libro →
    2. uno zaino →
    3. un’amica →
    4. una chiave →
    5. un ombrello →
    6. uno spazzolino →
    7. un paio di occhiali →

These five are a taste. There are over seven hundred on the site, free and with no sign-up. All the exercises →

Take this page with you

This chapter’s sheet as a printable PDF (tables in Italian): rules, typical mistakes and the quiz with answers. A teacher’s tip: grammar sticks by reviewing it often, not by studying it once.

Download the sheet (PDF)
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Every topic, a world

In the Ti app, grammar is practised inside thematic pathways with field-specific vocabulary: il bar, i trasporti, il calcio, la moda, la burocrazia and seventeen more. Choose your world and the grammar comes along by itself, explained in your language too.

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€5,83 a monthon the yearly plan

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Search for amo Italian

A bedroom with the bed, the wardrobe and the window
Un letto, due finestre, quattro sedie: the advert counts everything.

Read and understand

This chapter’s grammar. Example: a rental ad.

Stanze e posti letto

Affittasi camera

Camera luminosa con due finestre e un balcone.

Ci sono il letto, la scrivania, le mensole e un armadio grande.

In cucina: quattro sedie, due tavoli, i bicchieri e le pentole.

Il bagno ha lo specchio e gli asciugamani puliti.

Scrivere a stanze@centro.it

Questions

Quante finestre ha la camera?

«Gli asciugamani» è il plurale di…

Il plurale di «l'armadio» è…

Want another text on this topic? A shopping receipt · The shopping list

One more go

Choose the right form:

  1. In salotto ci sono due comodi.
  2. Ho perso di casa.
  3. C’è un con la lavatrice.
  4. Mi lavo prima di cucinare.
  5. In questa via ci sono tre storici.

Frequently asked questions

Is there any way to guess the gender of nouns in -e?

The suffix often helps: nouns in -zione and -sione are feminine (la stazione, la decisione), nouns in -ore are masculine (il colore, il fiore). It is not a guarantee for every noun in -e, but these two families alone cover hundreds of words.

Why is the plural of camicia camicie, but arancia becomes arance?

The spelling rule: -cia and -gia keep the i in the plural when a vowel comes before (camicia → camicie, valigia → valigie), and drop it after a consonant (arancia → arance, spiaggia → spiagge). The i is also kept when it is stressed: farmacia → farmacie.

Which nouns never change in the plural?

Nouns with a final accent (la città → le città, il caffè → i caffè), shortened nouns (la foto, il cinema, la bici) and most loanwords (il film → i film, lo sport → gli sport). Only the article tells you the number: il film, i film.