Plural Nouns
Plural Nouns
Italian pluralizes by changing the noun's final vowel rather than adding -s — once you know the three endings, most plurals become predictable.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
-o → -i, -a → -e, -e → -i
libro → libri, casa → case, ristorante → ristoranti
book → books, house → houses, restaurant → restaurants
Masculine nouns ending in -o switch to -i in the plural. Feminine nouns ending in -a switch to -e. Nouns ending in -e — masculine or feminine — switch to -i regardless of gender. There's no added -s anywhere; the ending itself carries the plural.
Some Nouns Never Change
la città → le città, il caffè → i caffè
the city → the cities, the coffee → the coffees
Nouns ending in an accented vowel (città, caffè) and most nouns borrowed from other languages (il bar → i bar, lo sport → gli sport) stay identical in the plural — only the article changes to show number. Always check the article, not just the noun, to know if you're dealing with one or many.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- book
- English
- books
- English
- house
- English
- houses
- English
- restaurant
- English
- restaurants
- English
- city / cities
- English
- coffee / coffees
- English
- friend
- English
- friends
- English
- lake
- English
- lakes