The lesson
English makes most plurals by adding -s. Italian never does. Instead, it changes the last vowel of the noun: libro → libri, casa → case. You need this every time there’s more than one of something, from tickets and tomatoes to brothers and sisters.
Three swaps cover almost every noun. Then there are words that never change, a spelling tweak that keeps a hard sound, and a few oddballs. What you learned about gender helps: the ending that told you masculine or feminine also tells you the plural.
-o becomes -i
Nouns ending in -o change to -i in the plural. Nearly all of them are masculine, and this is the plural you’ll use most: libro → libri, treno → treni, fratello → fratelli.
Nouns ending in -io usually keep just one i: figlio → figli, negozio → negozi (shops). The one you’ll meet early that keeps both is zio → zii, because the i is stressed.
Never add -s, not even to words English has borrowed: one panino, two panini.
-a becomes -e
Feminine nouns ending in -a change to -e: casa → case, mela → mele (apples), sorella → sorelle. Don’t reach for -i here: sorelli isn’t a word.
This swap is for feminine nouns only. The few masculine nouns in -a, like problema, take -i instead: problemi.
-e becomes -i, for both genders
Nouns ending in -e change to -i, and here gender doesn’t matter: masculine limone → limoni (lemons) and padre → padri, feminine chiave → chiavi and madre → madri.
That includes the -ione and -ore nouns from the gender lesson: stazione → stazioni, fiore → fiori.
A quick way to remember: the plural ends in -i, except for feminine -a nouns, which take -e.
Words that never change
Some nouns look exactly the same in the singular and the plural. There are three groups to know.
Nouns with an accented last vowel: città, università, caffè, tè. Nouns ending in a consonant, which are usually borrowed words: bar, film, sport, autobus, computer, hotel. And short forms of longer words: foto (from fotografia), cinema, bici (from bicicletta).
With these, only the words around the noun show the number. On its own, città could be one city or several.
| Why it stays the same | Examples |
|---|---|
| accented last vowel | città, università, caffè, tè |
| ends in a consonant | bar, film, sport, autobus, computer |
| short form | foto, cinema, bici |
Borrowed words never take an English -s in Italian: one film, two film.
-ca and -ga: keep the hard sound
Remember from the sounds lesson that ce is soft, like the ch in church? If amica simply became amice, its hard k would turn soft. So feminine nouns in -ca and -ga add an h in the plural: -che and -ghe. The sound stays as hard as in the singular.
Masculine nouns in -co and -go are less tidy: parco → parchi (parks) and albergo → alberghi (hotels) keep the hard sound, but amico → amici turns soft. Learn those one by one as you meet them.
| Singular | Plural | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| amica | amiche | f: always -che |
| riga | righe | f: always -ghe |
| parco | parchi | m: often -chi |
| amico | amici | m: sometimes -ci |
Say the singular out loud, then check the plural sounds just as hard: a-MEE-ka, a-MEE-keh.
Mixed groups and a few oddballs
When a group mixes men and women, Italian uses the masculine plural. Fratelli can mean brothers, or brothers and sisters; figli can mean sons or children; nonni are grandparents; zii can be an uncle and an aunt.
A few common nouns are simply irregular. Uomo (man) becomes uomini. Uovo (egg) becomes uova, which is feminine in the plural. And mano (hand) is feminine, yet its plural is mani, not mane. Learn these as words of their own.
Common mistakes
- pomodorospomodoriItalian plurals never add -s; you change the last vowel instead.
- sorellisorelleFeminine -a nouns take -e in the plural, not -i.
- Ecco mele e limone.Ecco mele e limoni.Nouns in -e change to -i in the plural, whatever their gender.
- filmsfilmBorrowed words ending in a consonant don’t change, and never take -s.
- cittecittàAn accented last vowel means no change: one città, many città.
- amiceamicheFeminine -ca nouns add an h to keep the hard k: -che.
- uoviuovaUovo is irregular: the plural is uova.
Plurals at a glance
Look at the last letter of the singular.
| -o → -i | libro → libri, biglietto → biglietti |
| -a (f) → -e | mela → mele, casa → case |
| -e → -i | chiave → chiavi, padre → padri |
| accented vowel · no change | città, caffè, università |
| consonant or short form · no change | bar, film, autobus, foto, cinema |
Feminine -ca and -ga keep their hard sound with an h: amica → amiche, banca → banche.
A few are irregular: uomo → uomini, uovo → uova.
A mixed group uses the masculine plural: nonno + nonna = nonni.
In short
- Italian never adds -s: it changes the last vowel.
- -o → -i (libri), feminine -a → -e (case), -e → -i (chiavi), whatever the gender of the -e noun.
- No change for an accented last vowel (città), a final consonant (bar, film) or a short form (foto).
- Feminine -ca, -ga become -che, -ghe (amiche); mixed groups take the masculine plural (nonni).
- Learn the oddballs: uomo → uomini, uovo → uova, mano → mani.