Singular to plural in Italian
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The Italian plural is formed by changing the final vowel of each word according to these general rules:
Singular | Plural | Italian | English |
---|---|---|---|
-a | -e (feminine); -i (masculine) | La mamma → Le mamme | Mother → Mothers Artist → Artists |
-e | -i | La lavatrice → Le lavatrici | Washing machine → Washing machines |
-i | -i | La crisi → Le crisi | Crise → Crises |
-o | -i | Il mondo → I mondi | World → Worlds |
-u | -u | Le gru → La gru | Crane → Cranes |
-io | -i; -ii | Il foglio → I fogli L'addio → Gli addii | Sheet → Sheets Farewell → Farewells |
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We can highlight the following main categories of words according to their final vowel:
Masculine nouns ending in -a will form their plural with -i, feminine nouns change their ending from -a to -e.
Italian | English | |
---|---|---|
Masculine | Il poeta → I poeti | The poet → The poets |
Feminine | La ragazza → Le ragazze | The girl → The girls |
In case -a is preceded by c or g, an h is added just before the new vowel -e.
Italian | English |
---|---|
La formica → Le formiche | The ant → The ants |
La riga → Le righe | The row → The rows |
La domenica → Le domeniche | The Sunday → The Sundays |
A noun ending in -e changes its vowel to -i, regardless of its gender.
Italian | English |
---|---|
Il fiore → I fiori | The flower → The flowers |
La parete → Le pareti | The wall → The walls |
Il colore → I colori | The colour → The colours |
This kind of nouns derives from foreign or ancient languages; the vowel ending remains unchanged when forming the plural.
Italian | English |
---|---|
La crisi → Le crisi | The crisis → The crises |
Lo gnu → Gli gnu | The gnu → The gnus |
La metropoli → Le metropoli | The metropolis → The metropolises |
These nouns are identical in their singular and plural forms, and, therefore, the article is the only thing that distinguishes them.
These nouns are almost always masculine, thus normally change to -i when forming the plural.
Italian | English |
---|---|
Il regalo → I regali | The present →The presents |
Lo stereotipo → Gli stereotipi | The stereotype → The stereotypes |
Il libro → I libri | The book → The books |
When -o is preceded by c or g and the stress falls on the next-to-last syllable, an h has to be added between the consonant and the new vowel.
Italian | English |
---|---|
Il sugo → I sughi | The sauce → The sauces |
Il cuoco → I cuochi | The cook → The cooks |
Il lago → I laghi | The lake → The lakes |
Note the following irregularities:
Italian | English |
---|---|
L'amico → Gli amici | The friend → The friends |
Il nemico → I nemici | The enemy → The enemies |
Il greco → I greci | The Greek → The Greeks |
Nouns ending in -io simply drop the -o when forming their plural.
Italian | English |
---|---|
Lo specchio → Gli specchi | The mirror → The mirrors |
L'operaio → Gli operai | The worker → The workers |
L'orologio → Gli orologi | The clock → The clocks |
If the i preceding -o is stressed, then it is necessary to add another i:
Italian | English |
---|---|
Lo zio → Gli zii | The uncle → The uncles |
L'addio → Gli addii | The farewell → The farewells |
Il pendìo → I pendii | The slope → The slopes |
All the nouns in the table switched their gender according to number: they are masculine when singular, but their plural forms are feminine.
Italian | English |
---|---|
Il braccio → Le braccia | The arm → The arms |
Il ciglio → Le ciglia | The eyelash → The eyelashes |
Il muro → Le mura | The wall (the city walls) → The walls |
Il dito → Le dita | The finger → The fingers |
Irregular plurals may also involve completely different endings from their original form, as shown in the following examples:
Italian | English |
---|---|
Il bue → I buoi | The ox → The oxen |
Il Dio → Gli Dèi | The God → The Gods |
L'uomo → Gli uomini | The man → The men |
L'ala → Le ali | The wing → The wings |
La serie → Le serie | The series → The series |
L'osso → Le ossa | The bone → The bones |
Invariable nouns keep the same form in both singular and plural.
If the last letter is accented, singular and plural will be the same.
Italian | English |
---|---|
La verità → Le verità La tribù → Le tribù La città → Le città | The truth → The truths The tribe → The tribes The city → The cities |
Nouns with one sillabe don't change in their plural form.
Italian | English |
---|---|
Il re → I re Il tè → I tè | The king → The kings The tea → The teas |
If a noun is shortnened, the plural form is the same as the singular.
Italian | English |
---|---|
L'auto → Le auto | The car → The cars The motorbike → The motorbikes |
Words from other languages don't change in the plural.
Italian | English |
---|---|
Lo sport → Gli sport Il wurstel → I wurstel | The sport → The sports The sausage → The sausages |
Defective nouns don't have singular or plural.
They are mostly abstract nouns used only in singular, or nouns of collective elements only used in plural.
Italian | English |
---|---|
Il cemento | The cement |
Il coraggio | The courage |
La sete | The thirst |
Gli occhiali | The glasses |
I baffi | The moustache |
Le forbici | The scissors |
When an object consists of two pieces, it is common to refer to it as paio (a pair).
Most of the nouns in Italian are individual. This means they indicate only one element when grammatically singular.
Nevertheless, there are nouns that are collective: they indicate more than one element or a group when grammatically singular.
Italian | English |
---|---|
Il gregge → I greggi | The flock |
La folla → Le folle | The crowd |
Although they exist both in singular and plural, some nouns can be both collective or individual depending on the context.
The distinction between countable and uncountable nouns in Italian is the same as in English.
Since uncountables can't be counted, they don't have a plural, and to express the plural quantity we have to resort to other expressions:
Uncountable (1) | Uncountable (more than 1) |
---|---|
Dammi il burro. (Give me the butter.) | Dammi tre panetti di burro. (Give me three sticks of butter.) |
Voglio dell'acqua. (I want some water.) | Voglio due bicchieri/bottiglie d'acqua. (I want two glasses/bottles of water.) |
Overabundant nouns have more than one form for the plural and/or for the singular.
The meaning of the two terms is often related, but changes according to gender and number.
Let's see some examples
Singular Masculine | Singular Feminine | Plural Masculine | Plural Feminine |
---|---|---|---|
Il fronte (the front, the line) | La fronte (the forehead) | I fronti (the fronts, the lines) | Le fronti (the foreheads) |
Singular | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Sorta (sort) | Sorte (fate) | Sorti (fates) |
Singular | Plural | Plural |
---|---|---|
Il braccio (the arm, the branch) | I bracci (branches) | Le braccia (the arms) |
Il ciglio (the edge, the eyelash) | I cigli (the edges) | Le ciglia (the eyelashes) |
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And I love to teach children and adults.
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Hi everyone!
My name is Daniela, I am Italian and I come from a small town in Sicily, Southern Italy. I am a qualified Italian language teacher and a CELI examiner! I work in two language schools teaching Italian and I also teach English at school.
I love foreign languages, translating, reading and listening to music. Are you ready to start your language learning path with me? We are going to learn many things and to talk a lot, if you allow me to! Don’t worry if you’ve never studied the language before: everyone can attend my classes – from beginner to advanced students. You just need passion for what you're going to do and... a good Internet connection. Materials are provided by me!
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Fabulous teacher. Very clear, very encouraging and very helpful. Also very flexible and accommodating. Cannot recommend Daniela highly enough.
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Hi everyone!
My name is Daniela, I am Italian and I come from a small town in Sicily, Southern Italy. I am a qualified Italian language teacher and a CELI examiner! I work in two language schools teaching Italian and I also teach English at school.
I love foreign languages, translating, reading and listening to music. Are you ready to start your language learning path with me? We are going to learn many things and to talk a lot, if you allow me to! Don’t worry if you’ve never studied the language before: everyone can attend my classes – from beginner to advanced students. You just need passion for what you're going to do and... a good Internet connection. Materials are provided by me!
See you online!
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Daniela has tailored our lessons to exactly what I asked for (B1 exam preparations). She is very prepared for all of our lessons and provides extra study material for me to complete as homework. I would recommend her as a tutor.
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Hi everyone!
My name is Daniela, I am Italian and I come from a small town in Sicily, Southern Italy. I am a qualified Italian language teacher and a CELI examiner! I work in two language schools teaching Italian and I also teach English at school.
I love foreign languages, translating, reading and listening to music. Are you ready to start your language learning path with me? We are going to learn many things and to talk a lot, if you allow me to! Don’t worry if you’ve never studied the language before: everyone can attend my classes – from beginner to advanced students. You just need passion for what you're going to do and... a good Internet connection. Materials are provided by me!
See you online!
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Daniela is a great teacher, she is helping me with my Italian. The lessons always fly by because it it so easy to talk with her. She makes you feel very at ease and has a great way of keeping the conversation going, while in the meantime keeping an eye on explaining grammatical things and making sure you improve your vocabulary each time. Therefore the lessons have a nice balance between being very enjoyable as well as informative, which makes the learning process proceed at a very consistent pace. Definitely can recommend Daniela!
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Roberta, is a fantastic teacher! She really helped to improve my confidence in using the formal Italian and in preparing for interviews in Italy. She tailored all our lessons to exactly my needs, and we also had a laugh in the process. Thanks again for all your help Roberta!
Roberta L.Thank you very much Emma, they are very happy to have helped you!
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Hello Everybody
My name is Luisa and I teach Italian for foreign students, English, French and German for Italian students
Since 1994, I have dedicated myself to translating and teaching thanks to my travels, abroad studies, foreign reading and writing. I provide fun and customized lessons based on the student's goals. I also triy to minimize English speaking during the lessons. I give homework exercises, and my lessons are intermixed with grammar, conversation, customs and traditions. My goal is to make certain that each student finds learning Italian exciting.
I am available for any explanations also via e mail
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Luisa is pleasant and very focused, I purchased 12 lessons after the first lesson with Luisa because I felt confident that she will teach me Italian at a level I’m able to follow with. I can’t wait to get stuck on and learn! :)
Luisa A.Thank you Julian !!! Thank you so much !!
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Hello my name is Lucia and I am a native Italian speaker.
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Lucia is a very engaging and sympathetic teacher. And although we have only done a couple of lessons we are feeling much more confident about the possibility of being able to converse in Italian. Thank you Lucia!
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Hi everyone!
My name is Daniela, I am Italian and I come from a small town in Sicily, Southern Italy. I am a qualified Italian language teacher and a CELI examiner! I work in two language schools teaching Italian and I also teach English at school.
I love foreign languages, translating, reading and listening to music. Are you ready to start your language learning path with me? We are going to learn many things and to talk a lot, if you allow me to! Don’t worry if you’ve never studied the language before: everyone can attend my classes – from beginner to advanced students. You just need passion for what you're going to do and... a good Internet connection. Materials are provided by me!
See you online!
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Wonderful teacher, thanks to her methodology and her pedagogical skills I could to reach the required level of italian language even without living in Italy. Highly recommended!!
Daniela V.Thanks, Lana. Your Italian is growing more and more and I am sure that the next big goal will soon arrive! :-D
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Why should you choose me? Take a look at what people say who have taken online classes with me.
Book lessons with me and
- prepare Dutch exams "Basisinburgering A1" and "Inburgeringsexamen A2". Your full commitment and my energetic, professional approach are the winning combination to help you succeed at once!
- learn Dutch because you live in the Netherlands (or are planning to move there) and still don’t speak the language properly or haven’t started yet. You’ll enjoy your environment more!
- learn Italian for work or because you will move to this beautiful country or simply because you just love it. Let me help you experience the language!
- study Spanish for pleasure, work or because you have to prepare an exam for school and you need to get confident to perform optimally
- get confident in useful daily conversations, meetings at work, exams, and presentations
- overcome the fear of failure; if you have learning problems, feel shy or need a boost of energy you’ll get confident enough to achieve your goals
My lessons are based on conversations. My method is to help you practice the language from the very beginning in spontaneous and direct conversations, using often role plays.
With books, articles, songs, and other interesting and stimulating material I will encourage conversation, develop grammar in a simpler way, and improve pronunciation.
Learning a foreign language is not a matter of doing much effort, but rather of being consistent, enjoying the lessons and allowing your intuition to work with you. You will book immediate results while having fun!
I've been teaching Dutch, Spanish and Italian for many years, in The Netherlands, for private institutes, for the integration of foreigners into society (Inburgering), and online from Italy, where I currently live.
Contact me for a free trial and let me know how I can help you.
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If you cancel a reservation please do it at least 24 hours before the session
(otherwise I would have to charge you for the lesson).
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Elena P.Thank you for your feedback, Marja. It's a real pleasure to work with you and your husband. I am very satisfied of the results that you both have achieved in such a short time!
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Hello Everybody
My name is Luisa and I teach Italian for foreign students, English, French and German for Italian students
Since 1994, I have dedicated myself to translating and teaching thanks to my travels, abroad studies, foreign reading and writing. I provide fun and customized lessons based on the student's goals. I also triy to minimize English speaking during the lessons. I give homework exercises, and my lessons are intermixed with grammar, conversation, customs and traditions. My goal is to make certain that each student finds learning Italian exciting.
I am available for any explanations also via e mail
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Luisa is such a great teacher; she’s energetic, patient, enthusiastic. I recommend her for anyone, child or adult.
Luisa A.Thank you so much Nicole !!!! much appreciated !!
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Hello everyone!
My name is Ermanno, I am 37 years old, and I am a Italian native speaker.
I got a Master Degree in 2010. Since then I have worked with languages, as a student support, tour guide and event coordinator between Spain and Ireland.
Also, I have been teaching Italian and Spanish giving private classes to students and refugees for over ten years.
I speak English (level c1) and Spanish (level c2) well enough to explain something to you in one of those languages just in case you need.
We can have amazing Italian or Spanish Classes if you are starting to get into a new language or if you just need some conversation classes to broaden or refine your vocabulary.
I will guide and support you through your learning adventure!
Are you ready for that?
-What I offer-
I have been teaching Italian and Spanish for more than 10 years so far, and I have always used no traditional teaching method.
What we need is to enjoy the class, to express ourself and our creativity.
That's the best way to learn and to keep learning.
Furthermore, I will guide you in all the learning process steps and you will learn the grammar in a funny way. ;)
In the conversation class we spend the full hour talking in Italian/spanish about topics of your interest (sports, arts, traveling, culture, food, relations..);and I will make you speak as much as you can.
WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT YOU SPEAK AS MUCH YOU CAN?
Because our brain need some time to make us fluent and being confident speaking in another language.
Do not be afraid to make mistakes.
It is the essential and funniest part of the learning process.
What are you waiting for?
Ci vediamo presto L'Italiano ti aspetta!
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Perfect the class with Ermanno. Punctual, professional, educational and very friendly. He prepared the class in advance and adjusted to what I asked. Also send me a pdf with the class information so you can review it at home !! We were able to take full advantage of it. As soon as I have a little more time I will sign up for more classes with Ermanno without hesitation. Recommended 100%
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