Masculine and Feminine Nouns: Irregular Formations
Italian nouns, like many other languages have either masculine or feminine endings. However, like most aspects of language, there are exceptions. In this article, we will talk about some cases in Italian in which nouns with masculine suffixes are preceded by feminine articles, and vice versa, along with other special cases.
Regular gender formation in Italian nouns
Before delving into the unique cases with Italian nouns, we will first review how regular nouns and articles operate. Generally speaking, you can follow this guideline:
– Nouns ending in -o are masculine (e.g. albero, tavolo, cavallo)
– Nouns ending in -a are feminine (e.g. ragazza, casa, scarpa)
Masculine nouns take the definite article il before them (e.g. il cavallo), while feminine nouns take the definite article la (e.g. la casa).
Unlike English, Spanish, and French, the plural form is not formed by adding an -s, but rather the following:
– il cavallo → i cavalli
– la ragazza → ragazze
Another consideration is that most nouns ending in -ione are feminine (e.g. stazione, television), and most nouns ending in -ore are masculine (e.g. autore, professore). Finally, nouns that end in a consonant (taken from other languages), such as bar, sport, and computer, are masculine.
Irregular gender formation
While the above demonstrates the usual rules for how nouns are formed, like most all cases with grammar, there are exceptions. Some nouns don’t follow the above formations and need to simply be memorized.
For example, many (not all!) terms for parts of the body are masculine in their singular form, but feminine in the plural: e.g. l’orecchio/le orecchie; il labbro/le labbra; il braccio/le braccia. The word for hand follows a different pattern: la mano/le mani. Note how highly irregular these are; with two exceptions (orecchie and mani) the plural forms of the nouns only take the plural definite article, while the noun itself maintains a singular form. Aside from parts of the body, there are other cases in which a noun seemingly changes gender from singular to plural (e.g. l’uovo/le uova).
And then there are simply cases in which feminine nouns will take an -o ending, and vice versa. For example:
– la radio
– la moto
– la Metro
– l’auto
– il problema
– il clima
– il cinema
– il pigiama
There are also some nouns ending in -co/ca and -go/a that will add an “h” when the noun becomes plural. This is to preserve Italian’s pure pronunciation rules. Example: lago → laghi
Some feminine nouns ending with -cia or -gia become -ce or -ge for the plural. Example: arancia → arance
Finally, there are some feminine nouns that will take an -i ending, e.g. la crisi (singular) → le crisi (plural)
These are just a few examples, and there are plenty of other strange exceptions to the usual rules, so watch out as you’re expanding your vocabulary!
The case of nouns ending in -e
There are also instances of many nouns ending in -e. These are trickier, because some of these nouns are masculine, while some are feminine. It is best to work on memorizing their gender as you are learning them. Some examples include the following:
– il fiore (m.)
– la neve (f.)
– il pane (m.)
– la stazione (f.) also see above for words ending in -ione
– il sole (m.)
– la carne (f.)
– il bicchiere (m.)
Other examples
There are also certain words that can take both a masculine and feminine form. These are often professions, and so the masculine or feminine accompanying article will depend on the gender of the person the noun describes. Such words include artista, sindaco, ingegnere, cantante, pediatra, and agente.
On the other hand, many nouns describing professions that end in -tore will be masculine and will change to -trice for the feminine: attore → attrice, scrittore → scrittrice, and pittore → pittrice.
Finally, there are some nouns that will completely change meanings depending on whether they are in their masculine or feminine form:
– il tavolo (table as furniture) / la tavola (set table for a meal)
– il capitale (large amount of money / la capitale (center of government)
– il mostro (monster) / la mostra (exhibition)
– il pianto (crying) / la pianta (plant)
– il porto (port) / la porta (door)
Conclusion
Nouns in Italian might not be as straightforward as they initially seem, and all the various exceptions in this article might have made them overwhelming. Rest assured, the more you are exposed to these words through reading and conversation practice, the more their definite articles and forms will become like second nature. If you’re interested in continuing (or starting) your Italian education, don’t hesitate to contact us at info@italiancitizenshiplanguageschool.com!
