Italian Plural Nouns

In the video above and in this article you will see a basic explanation of the rules that you need to learn on the change from singular to plural in Italian!

If you want to you can also download the full pdf version of the lesson here!. 

These are the changes that you need to keep in mind when it comes to singular versus plural words in Italian 

For masculine words

Masculine nouns that end with an O (in the singular form) will change the ending to an I (in the plural form)

Il libro - I libri

• the book - the books

Il ragazzo - I ragazzi 

• the boy - the boys

Il gatto - I gatti

• the cat - the cats

There are also some masculine nouns that end with an A. 

These are for example:

Il problema - I problemi

• the problem - the problems

Il poeta - I poeti

• The poet - the poets

Il programma - i programmi

• The program - the programs

For feminine words

Feminine nouns that end with an A (in the singular form) will change to an E (in the plural form) 

La strada - le strade

• the road - the roads

La ragazza - le ragazze

• the girl - the girls

La penna - le penne

• The pen - the pens

There are also some feminine nouns that end with an E. These are for example:

La stazione - Le stazioni

• the station - the stations

L’attrice - le attrici

• The actress - the actresses 

La lezione - le lezioni

• The lesson - the lessons

Three exceptions from the rules

Some names do not make this change when they become plural.

One 

This happens with all names that end with an accent:

• la città - le città
• il caffè - i caffè
• L’università - le università
• Il menù - i menù
• Il tè - i tè

Two  

With nouns that end with a consonant (usually these are words that have been taken from other languages):

• il bar - i bar
• l’autobus - gli autobus
• lo yogurt - gli yogurt
• Il computer - i computer
• Lo sport - gli sport

Three 

When you have an abbreviation of a longer word:

For example the word bicicletta can be abbreviated to "la bici" and motocicletta can be abbreviated to “la moto.” The long version will be “la bicicletta” (singular) le biciclette (plural) with a change in the last letter. 

In these cases if you want to use the short version of the word and want to create a plural you will not need to make a change to the last letter, you simply keep it the same:

• La bicicletta: la bici (singular) will become le bici (plural)
• La motocicletta: la moto (singular) will become le moto (plural)

Extra ones that follow this example

• La fotografia: la foto (singular) will become le foto (plural)
• L’automobile: l’auto  (singular) will become le auto (plural)

Here are other videos that you might find interesting and will help you understand Italian grammar: 

The Italian definite article

Italian irregular nouns

Italian indirect pronouns