Lesson 5, part 3, Genders and numbers of nouns: Irregular nouns

Lesson 5, part 3, Genders and numbers of nouns: Irregular nouns


Irregular nouns Masculine Feminine

Some nouns have an irregular feminine form.
Certain people prefer to use only the masculine form of the nouns indicated by * instead of the irregular femminine form (e.g. "La Signora Rossi è il presidente della società" - Ms. Rossi is the president of the company)

attore (actor)
scrittore (writer)
pittore (painter)
imperatore (emperor)
direttore* (director)
dottore (doctor)
presidente*(president)
poeta (poet)
avvocato*(lawyer) attrice
scrittrice
pittrice
imperatrice
direttrice
dottoressa
presidentessa
poetessa
avvocatessa

Some nouns have only the singular form, including all nouns ending with an accented vowel and all foreign nouns (e.g. "un re, due re" - one king, two kings) re (king)
ossigeno (oxigen)
tassì (taxi)
caffè (coffee)
hotel
sport
yoga
yogurt gru (crane)
città (city)
università (university)

Some nouns are used only in the plural form. occhiali (glasses) forbici (scissors)

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)
labbro (lip)
dito (finger)
ginocchio (knee)
uovo (egg) braccia (arms)
labbra (lips)
dita (fingers)
ginocchia (knees)
uova (eggs)

Nouns ending with "co/ca" or "go/ga" add an "h" in the plural form. lago/laghi (lake/s)
amica/amiche (friend/s)

Some masculine nouns ending with "co" or go" do not add the "h" amico/amici (friend/s)
medico/medici (doctor/s)

Feminine nouns ending with "cia" or "gia" become "ce" or "ge" when a consonant precedes the ending "cia" or "gia