- For an explanation of the -h- in these endings, see paragraph 20 below.
16 Nouns ending in -i do not change in the plural:
17 Foreign nouns, and nouns stressed on the last vowel, do not change in the
plural:
18 A number of nouns are irregular in the plural. E.g. la mano [f] (hand)
becomes le mani in the plural, l’uomo [m] (man) becomes gli uomini in the
plural. Here are some nouns which do not change in the plural, because they
are abbreviations (cf. above, paragraph 6):
Some nouns are masculine in the singular but feminine in the plural. Here are
a few:
Singular
il pianista [m] (male) pianist
la pianista [f] (female) pianist
il collega [m] (male) colleague
la collega [f] (female) colleaguePlural
i pianisti [m] (male) pianists
le pianiste [f] (female) pianists
i colleghi* [m] (male) colleagues
le colleghe* [f] (female) colleaguesSingular
l’analisi [f]
la crisi [f]analysis
crisisPlural
le analisi
le crisianalyses
crisesSingular
il bar [m]
lo sport [m]
la città [f]
la virtù [f]bar
sport
city
virtuePlural
i bar
gli sport
le città
le virtùbars
sports
cities
virtuesSingular
l’auto [f]
la radio [f]
la moto [f]
la foto [f]
il cinema [m]car
radio
motorbike
photo
cinemaPlural
le auto
le radio
le moto
le foto
i cinemacars
radios
motorbikes
photos
cinemasSingular
il dito [m]
il centinaio [m]
il migliaio [m]
il miglio [m]
il paio [m]
l’uovo [m]finger
(about) a hundred
(about) a thousand
mile
pair
eggPlural
le dita [f]
le centinaia [f]
le migliaia [f]
le miglia [f]
le paia [f]
le uova [f]fingers
hundreds
thousands
miles
pairs
eggs