L1: Nouns

[BillyShears]

L1: Nouns (Nomi)

All Italian nouns have gender, they are either masculine or feminine (neuter gender does not exist in Italian). Nouns that specifically refer to a man (father, brother, etc.) are masculine and those that specifically refer to a woman (mother, sister, etc.) are feminine. For other nouns it is necessary to learn the proper gender but generally nouns ending in "o" are masculine and those ending in "a" are feminine. Nouns ending in -e can be masculine or feminine.

Masculine nouns ending in -o / Feminine nouns ending in -a

Generally nouns ending in "o" are masculine and those ending in "a" are feminine.

ragazzo/ragazza (boy / girl)
amico/amica (friend [m] / friend [f])
nonno/nonna (grandfather / grandmother)
libro (book)
casa (house)
quaderno (notebook)
penna (pen)
attico (attic)
aula (classroom)

To form the plural of masculine nouns ending in "o", change the "o" to "i" and for feminine nouns ending "a", change the "a" to "e".
ragazzo (boy) / ragazzi (boys)
ragazza (girl) / ragazze (girls)
libro (book) / libri (books)
casa (house) / case (houses)
quaderno (notebook) / quaderni (notebooks)
nonna (grandmother) / nonne (grandmothers)