Italian Grammar Bank
ITALIAN SINGULAR NOUNS
It is possible to recognise the gender of an Italian noun from the final vowel.
Nouns that end with the singular vowel O are generally masculine, while nouns that end with the singular vowel A are generally feminine.
However, there are exceptions and variations you need to know about.
SINGULAR DEFINITE ARTICLES
In Italian, there are 7 definite articles, that all correspond to the English “the”. The articles for singular nouns are the following:
| IL | LO | LA | L’ |
“IL” and “LO” are for masculine nouns, “LA” is for feminine nouns and the last one, “L’”, is for both. There are some rules to use them correctly.
RULES
➡️ If the noun is feminine, the article is la:
| La casa | The house |
| La penna | The pen |
| La matita | The pencil |
| La sedia | The chair |
| La persona | The person |
➡️ If the first letter is a vowel or an h (because it’s silent and the next letter will be a vowel), the article is always l’.
| L’albero | The tree |
| L’ape | The bee |
| L’uovo | The egg |
| L’occhio | The eye |
| L’hotel | The hotel |
➡️Most of masculine nouns in Italian require il as article when singular:
| Il libro | The book |
| Il cuscino | The pillow |
| Il divano | The sofa |
| Il quaderno | The notebook |
| Il Giardino | The garden |
➡️However, sometimes, the article for masculine nouns can also be lo, when the noun starts with:
PATTERN
z, gn, ps, s + consonant, x, y
| Lo zio | The uncle |
| Lo gnomo | The gnome |
| Lo psicologo | The psychologist |
| Lo scoiattolo | The squirrel |
| Lo stato | The state |
| Lo xilofono | The xylophone |
| Lo yogurt | The yogurt |
Nouns in Italian, however, do not always end in –o or in –a, but also in -e and you might need a dictionary to tell its gender.
There is no precise rule for knowing when the gender of names ending with the letter E is feminine and masculine, but in case of doubt we can use this technique:
➡️ if nouns end in -ORE they are masculine, if they end in -ZIONE they are feminine, if they end in -TUDINE they are feminine. Let us see some examples:
| Il motore | The engine |
| Il rumore | The noise |
| La stazione | The station |
| La solitudine | Loneliness |
In some cases, when a noun ends -e, in the only way to tell the gender of the noun is the article.
Let us see some examples to clarify:
| uomo | donna | |
|---|---|---|
| Nipote (nephew/niece) | Mio nipote ha 5 anni. | Mia nipote ha 5 anni. |
| Preside (headmaster) | Il preside ha deciso così. | La preside ha deciso così. |
| Insegnante (teacher) | Un nuovo insegnante di… | Una nuova insegnante… |
| Cantante (singer) | Il nuovo cantante ha una voce bellissima. | La nuova cantante ha una voce bellissima. |
Also, there are many nous that can be both masculine and feminine, if the person in question is a man or a woman, and, once again, the article tells us the gender.
| Il / La custode | custodian |
| Il / La giudice | judge |
| Il / La artista | artist |
| Il / La specialista | specialist |
| Il / La giornalista | journalist |
| Il / La negoziante | shopkeeper |
| Il / La atleta | athlete |
| Il / La dentista | dentist |
| Il / La collega | colleague |
| Il / La terapeuta | therapist |
EXCEPTIONS
Italian is a language full of exceptions and there are many cases where we could be misled by the ending of a noun: we might believe a noun to be feminine because it ends in -a but we see the article il.
➡️ Some words may be truncated but when we assign the article we must have the whole word in mind.
Words such as cinema [cinema], auto [car], foto [photo], are not whole words and when we use them, we must instead have in our mind cinematografo, automobile, fotografia.
Therefore, the articles are:
➡️ All words of Greek origin, despite their ending in -a, are mostly masculine.
| IL problema | The problem |
| IL Sistema | The system |
| IL fonema | The phoneme |
| IL dramma | The drama |
| IL clima | The climate |
| IL telegramma | The telegram |
➡️ Words that refer to a man, independently from their ending, are always masculine:
| IL papà | The dad |
| IL papa | The pope |
| IL poeta | The poet |
➡️ The Italian words ending in -i are mostly feminine:
| L’analisi | The analysis |
| LA crisi | The crisis |
| L’ipotesi | The hypothesis |
➡️ Also, if the word ends in –sione and –zione, then it is feminine. These nouns are easy because they are very similar to English, with the Latin ending -tio(ne) that in English is –tion and in Italian is converted to –zione.
| LA televisione | The television |
| LA stazione | The production |
| LA produzione | The station |
| L’azione | The action |
MASCULINE & FEMININE
Let us now see what the rules are for switching the gender of nouns from masculine to feminine.
As we have seen at the beginning, male nouns ending with the vowel O change to the vowel A.
| BAMBINO | BAMBINA | Child |
| RAGAZZO | RAGAZZA | Boy/girl |
Masculine nouns ending with the vowel E change to feminine in two ways:
➡️ by changing the vowel E for the vowel A such as
| CAMERIERE | CAMERIERA | Waiter / waitress |
| INFERMIERE | INFERMIERA | Nurse |
➡️ or by changing the vowel E for the letters –ESSA as
| STUDENTE | STUDENTESSA | Student |
| PROFESSORE | PROFESSORESSA | Professor |
➡️ Masculine nouns ending in the singular with the letters –TORE form the feminine with the letters –TORA as
| PASTORE | PASTORA | Pastor |
| IMPOSTORE | IMPOSTORA | Impostor |
➡️ or can form the feminine with the letters –TRICE
| SCRITTORE | SCRITTRICE | Writer |
| ATTORE | ATTRICE | Actor / actress |
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FAQs
How can I tell if a singular noun is masculine or feminine in Italian?
Generally, nouns ending in -o are masculine, while those ending in -a are feminine.
There are exceptions, so learning specific endings and memorizing exceptions can help.
Are there any Italian nouns with irregular gender endings?
Yes, some nouns don’t follow the typical -o or -a ending rule. For example, mano (hand) is feminine, and poeta (poet) is masculine, despite their endings.
Do nouns ending in -e have a specific gender in Italian?
Nouns ending in -e can be either masculine or feminine. For example, fiore (flower) is masculine, while notte (night) is feminine.
The gender often has to be memorized or checked in a dictionary.
Why is it important to know the gender of nouns in Italian?
Knowing the gender of nouns is essential for correct article and adjective agreement, as these must match the gender and number of the noun they modify.
Are there any clues that indicate the gender of an Italian noun?
es, certain suffixes can help. For instance, nouns ending in -zione or -tudine are typically feminine, while those ending in -ore are usually masculine.
Can I study Italian with LTL?
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