Italian Language

Italian Grammar

Nouns

Nouns ending with "O" AND "A"

Italian nouns can be masculine and feminine, singular and plural. For example, the noun "gatto" (cat) has 4 forms: gatto/gatta, gattl/gatte
The plural form of nouns ending with "o" ends with "i"
The plural form of nouns ending with "a" ends with "e"

Nouns ending with "O" OR"A"

Some nouns have only the masculine OR the feminine form (singular and plural). For example, the noun "libro" (book) is masculine and the noun "sedia" (chair) is feminine.

Nouns ending with "E"

Some Italian nouns end with "e". They can be masculine OR feminine. The only way to know their gender is by consulting a dictionary or deducting it from the article in front of the noun. For example, the noun "fiore" (flower) is masculine. The noun "televisione" (television) is feminine. The plural form of ALL nouns (feminine or masculine) ending with "E" ends with "I". (fiori, televisioni)

Irregular Nouns

The Italian language has many irregular nouns.
-Some nouns have an irregular feminine form. Certain people prefer to use only the masculine form instead of the irregular feminine form ("La Signora Rossi ì il presidente della società" - Ms. Rossi is the president of the company)
-Some nouns have only the singular form, including all nouns ending with an accented vowel and all foreign nouns ("un re, due re" - one king, two kings)
-Some nouns are used only in the plural form. (occhiali-glasses)
-Some masculine nouns end with "a" and form the plural ending with "i". (poeta/poeti (poet/s) problema/problemi (problem/s)
-Some feminine nouns end with "o" and form the plural ending with "i". (mano/mani (hand/hands)
-Some nouns are masculine in the singular form, but become feminine in the plural, ending with "a". (braccio (arm)/braccia (arms)
-Nouns ending with "co/ca" or "go/ga" add an "h" in the plural form. (amica/amiche (friend/s)
-Some masculine nouns ending with "co" or go" do not add the "h" (medico/medici (doctor/s)
-Feminine nouns ending with "cia" or "gia" become "ce" or "ge" when a consonant precedes the ending "cia" or "gia". (arancia/arance (orange/s)

Articles

The Definite Article:

introduce a specific, defined or previously mentioned noun.

Feminine nouns: If the feminine noun is singular, use LA. If the feminine noun is plural use LE. For example: la ragazza, le ragazze.

Masculine nouns: before a masculine noun you need to choose between IL and LO. You make the choice depending on how the masculine noun begins. You should find that you choose IL most of the time. Here are the rules:
- Use IL and its plural I when the masculine noun begins with a consonant. (il ragazzo/i ragazzi)
-Use LO and its plural GLI when the masculine noun begins with a vowel, or z or s. LO can be abbreviated to L' before a word beginning with a vowel. (lo sbaglio/gli sbagli)
-Remember that any nouns borrowed from another language are masculine and have no plural.

The indefinite Article:

Indefinite articles introduce a generic or not defined noun.

Feminine nouns: The word for "a" before a feminine noun is una which can be abbreviated to un' if the noun begins with a vowel.

Masculine nouns: The usual word is un which is used before all masculine nouns (including those which begin with a vowel) except those which begin with z or s. (un ragazzo/una ragazza, uno zingaro/una zingara)

Prepositions

a: to, toward
avanti: before; in the presence of
con: with
contro: against; in exchange for
da: since, from, of, off, at, by (agent)
di: of; from; at
dentro: within, into, in
dietro: behind
dopo: later, soon, after
dopochè: after davanti formerly, ahead, before
durante: during, while, whilst
fra: in, between
in: in, inside, within
in avanti: forward, onwards
inverso: against
fuori: out(side)
indietro: behind
malgrado: despite, in spite of
oltre: beyond, further per for, thrrough, per, via
presso: nearby
secondo: according to
senza: without
sotto: below, under, beneath
su: on, upon, onto, up (above), upward
tra: from among, between
verso: about, towards, approximatel

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