Most Italian nouns (i nomi) end in a vowel.

Nouns that end in a consonant

are of foreign origin. All nouns in Italian have a gender (il genere); that
is, they are either masculine or feminine, even those referring not to
people but to things, qualities, or ideas.
Generally, nouns ending in -o are masculine, nouns ending in -a are
feminine.K
MASCULINE: amico, treno, dollaro, panino
FEMININE: amica, bicicletta, lira, studentessa
Nouns ending in -e may be masculine or feminine. The gender of these
nouns must be memorized.
MASCULINE: studente, ristorante, caff
FEMININE: automobile, notte, arte
Nouns ending -ione are generally feminine, while nouns ending in -
ore are almost always masculine.
televisione (f.) television attore (m.) actor
nazione (f.) nation autore (m.) author
opinione (f.) opinion professore (m.) professor
Nouns ending in a consonant are usually masculine.
bar, autobus, film, sport
Abbreviated nouns retain the gender of the words from which they are
derived.
foto f. (from fotografia)
cinema m. (from cinematografo)
moto f. (from motocicletta)
auto f. (from automobile)
bici f. (from bicicletta)
Most Italian nouns (i nomi) end in a vowel. Nouns that end in a consonant
are of foreign origin. All nouns in Italian have a gender (il genere); that
is, they are either masculine or feminine, even those referring not to
people but to things, qualities, or ideas.
Generally, nouns ending in -o are masculine, nouns ending in -a are
feminine.
MASCULINE: amico, treno, dollaro, panino
FEMININE: amica, bicicletta, lira, studentessa
Nouns ending in -e may be masculine or feminine. The gender of these
nouns must be memorized.
MASCULINE: studente, ristorante, caff
FEMININE: automobile, notte, arte
Nouns ending -ione are generally feminine, while nouns ending in -
ore are almost always masculine.
televisione (f.) television attore (m.) actor
nazione (f.) nation autore (m.) author
opinione (f.) opinion professore (m.) professor
Nouns ending in a consonant are usually masculine.
bar, autobus, film, sport
Abbreviated nouns retain the gender of the words from which they are
derived.
foto f. (from fotografia)
cinema m. (from cinematografo)
moto f. (from motocicletta)
auto f. (from automobile)
bici f. (from bicicletta)
Italian nouns change their vowel endings to indicate a change in number.

SINGOLARE

PLURALE

Nouns ending in: -o change to: -i


-a

-e


-ca

-che


-e

-i

amico (m.) friend amici friends
studentessa (f.) student studentesse students
amica (f.) friend amiche friends
studente (m.) student studenti students
NOTE: Nouns ending with an accented vowel or a consonant do not change in the
plural, nor do abbreviated words.
caffdue caff
filmdue film
fotodue foto



WORKBOOK
Gender
A. Indicate the gender of the following nouns with M (masculine) or F (feminine).
1. equit
2. lampo
3. cane
4. fragola
5. luned
6. correzione
7. sci
8. pap
9. caffelatte
10. fava

Number
B. Make the following singular nouns plural.
1. la lira
2. la stazione
3. il dollaro
4. il caff
5. il panino
6. la birra
7. il parente
8. la signorina
9. la banana
10. il film

Number
C. Make the following plural nouns singular.
1. le signore
2. i professori
3. i vini
4. le aranciate
5. i ragazzi
6. le ragazze
7. le universit
8. le lezioni
9. gli zii
10. le uova








Gender
A. Indicate the gender of the following nouns with M (masculine) or F (feminine).
1. equit F
2. lampo M
3. cane M
4. fragola F
5. luned M
6. correzione F
7. sci M
8. pap M
9. caffelatte M
10. fava F
Questions | Answers
Number
B. Make the following singular nouns plural.
1. la lira le lire
2. la stazione le stazioni
3. il dollaro i dollari
4. il caff i caff
5. il panino i panini
6. la birra le birre
7. il parente i parenti
8. la signorina le signorine
9. la banana le banane
10. il film i film
Questions | Answers
Number
C. Make the following plural nouns singular.
1. le signore la signora
2. i professori il professore
3. i vini il vino
4. le aranciate laranciata
5. i ragazzi il ragazzo
6. le ragazze la ragazza
7. le universit l'universit
8. le lezioni la lezione
9. gli zii lo zio
10. le uova luovo