The noun

The noun identifies people, animals, things, places, ideas, concepts, feelings like il padre (the father), il cane (the dog), la sedia (the chair), la Toscana (Tuscany), la speranza (hope), la gioia (joy). Along with the verb, the noun is the main element of the sentence.

In Italian grammar, nouns are characterized by gender and number.

Grammatical gender: a noun can be masculine or feminine. Masculine nouns include il nonno (grandfather), l'orologio (watch), il parco (park); feminine nouns include la zia (aunt), la sciarpa (scarf), la piazza (square). For people and animals, the gender traditionally coincides with sex; for things, the gender is conventional.

Number: a noun can be singular or plural. A singular noun indicates one thing like il libro (book), la macchina (car), la casa (house); a plural noun indicates multiple things like i quaderni (notebooks), gli stivali (boots), le piante (plants).

In most nouns, the final vowel indicates whether the noun is masculine or feminine, singular or plural. In other cases, usage and memory help recognize gender and number.

A very general rule is the following:

• Most singular nouns ending in -o are masculine, form their plural in -i;

• Most nouns ending in -a are feminine, form their plural in -e;

• Nouns ending in -e are divided between masculine and feminine nouns, form their plural in -i;

• Nouns with accent on the last vowel are feminine, the plural is invariable;

• Foreign nouns are masculine, the plural is invariable.

Attention! Exceptions are numerous. Some nouns ending in -o are feminine, groups of nouns ending in -a can be masculine. There are also many exceptions for plural formation: groups of nouns are invariable in singular and plural.

It's important to know a noun's gender and number to correctly use other sentence elements like articles, adjectives, and verbs that must agree with the noun they refer to. Conversely, it's possible to recognize a noun's gender and number from these same elements.

• Il libro è noioso. - masculine, singular

• La bambola è carina. - feminine, singular

• Il marciapiede è stretto. - masculine, singular

• La stazione è lontana. - feminine, singular

Nouns that identify people and some animals generally have both masculine and feminine genders, in both singular and plural. The gender change is, in most cases, shown by the change in the final vowel of the noun.

Ex.: Il signore - masculine ↔ la signora - feminine

Nouns identifying groups of people, things, concepts, ideas, or feelings are masculine or feminine.

Ex.: La gente - feminine; il libro - masculine; la bellezza - feminine; l’entusiasmo - masculine.

Nouns that identify people and some animals

Proper Nouns

Proper nouns for people are names like Marco, Annalisa, Andrea, Marilù.

Proper nouns also include names of cities like Roma, or countries like la Francia (France), gli Stati Uniti (United States); or specific geographical elements like names of islands, rivers or mountains: le Fiji, il Tamigi (Thames) and l'Everest.

Common nouns for people and some animals 

Nouns that have masculine and feminine gender.

These are called mobile nouns. These nouns have a masculine form and a corresponding feminine form. The gender change occurs either with the change of the final vowel or through recognition of other elements such as articles and adjectives.

• Masculine nouns ending in -o

Usually form their feminine counterpart in -a. They form the plural in -i for masculine and -e for feminine:

Il bambino → la bambina ↔ I bambini → le bambine
L’amico → l’amica ↔ Gli amici → le amiche
Lo zio → la zia ↔ Gli zii → le zie
Il maestro → la maestra ↔ I maestri → le maestre
Il gatto → la gatta ↔ I gatti → le gatte

• Masculine nouns ending in -e

- Some nouns form the feminine in -a. They form the plural in -i for masculine, in -e for feminine:

Il signore → la signora ↔ I signori → le signore
L’infermiere → l’infermiera ↔ Gli infermieri → le infermiere

- Some nouns ending in -e and -sore, which usually indicate professions or noble titles, form the feminine in -essa. They form the plural in -i for masculine, in -esse for feminine:

Lo studente → La studentessa ↔ Gli studenti → le studentesse
Il professore → la professoressa ↔ I professori → le professoresse
Il principe → la principessa ↔ I principi → le principesse
Il leone → la leonessa ↔ I leoni le leonesse

- Some nouns ending in -tore, which usually indicates professions, form the feminine in -trice. They form the plural in -i for masculine, in -trici for feminine:

Lo scrittore → la scrittrice ↔ Gli scrittori → le scrittrici
Il traditore → la traditrice ↔ I traditori → le traditrici

• Masculine nouns ending in -a

They indicate professions or titles. They form the feminine in—essa. They form the plural in —i for masculine and in —esse for feminine.

Il poeta → la poetessa ↔ I poeti → le poetesse
Il duca → la duchessa ↔ I duchi → le duchesse

Common Gender Nouns

These nouns have a single form for both masculine and feminine singular, generally ending in -a or -e. Nouns ending in -a form their plurals in -i for masculine and -e for feminine. Nouns ending in -e form their plurals in -i for both masculine and feminine.

Il collega → la collega ↔ I colleghi → le colleghe
Il giornalista → la giornalista ↔ I giornalisti → le giornaliste
Il pediatra → la pediatra ↔ I pediatri → le pediatre
Il nipote → la nipote ↔ I nipoti → le nipoti
Il cantante → la cantante ↔ I cantanti → le cantanti

To assign or recognize the gender of the singular noun, you need to combine articles and adjectives or the person to whom the noun refers.

Ex: L’insegnante: Maria è l’insegnante italiana. - feminine ↔ Marcelo è l'insegnante spagnolo. - masculine

Carola e Gisella sono cantanti famose. - feminine ↔ Gustavo e Glauco sono cantanti famosi. - masculine

Independent Nouns

These are nouns that have a masculine form and a different or independent feminine form, they form their plural following the general rules for plural formation:

L’uomo → la donna ↔ Gli uomini → le donne
Il marito → la moglie ↔ I mariti → le mogli
Il padre → la madre ↔ I padri → le madri
Il fratello → la sorella ↔ I fratelli → le sorelle
Il frate → la suora ↔ I frati → le suore

Warning! The plural of uomo is uomini.

Nouns that identify things and concepts

These nouns have only one form: they are either masculine or feminine. They form their plurals based on the final vowel of the singular form and gender.

The general rule is as follows:

• Masculine nouns ending in -o → plural in -i

• Feminine nouns ending in -a → plural in -e

• Masculine nouns ending in -a → plural in -i

• Feminine nouns ending in -o → plural in -i

• Masculine and feminine nouns ending in -e → plural in -i

Nouns ending in -o

Almost all nouns ending in -o are masculine and form their plural in -i. They represent the most numerous and recognizable category of masculine nouns.

Il quadro → i quadri
Il telefono → i telefoni
Il tavolo → i tavoli

The most common feminine noun ending in -o is la mano and forms its plural in -i. Other common nouns are abbreviated from other feminine nouns and remain unchanged:

La mano → le mani
L’auto (automobile) → le auto (automobili)

Warning!
Uovo is a masculine singular noun ending in -o, but its plural is feminine ending in -a.
Eco is a feminine singular noun ending in -o and its plural is masculine ending in -i.

L’uovo - masculine → le uova - feminine
L’eco - feminine → gli echi - masculine

Nouns ending in -a

They represent the most numerous and recognizable category of feminine nouns. Nouns ending in -a are usually feminine and form their plural in -e.

La borsa → le borse
La scatola → le scatole
La bellezza → le bellezze

Warning! Masculine nouns ending in -a. These are very common nouns ending in -ma of Greek origin and form their plural in -mi:
il clima → i climi (rarely used), il programma → i programmi, il problema → i problemi.

Nouns ending in -e

Nouns ending in -e can be either masculine or feminine and form their plural in -i:

Il ristorante → i ristoranti
La nave → le navi

Usage and practice help memorize masculine and feminine nouns.

Among nouns ending in -e in the singular, it's possible to identify two categories:

• nouns ending in -tore, -ale, and -ile are generally masculine;
Il reattore, il locale, il mobile.

• nouns ending in -zione, -sione, and -gione are generally feminine.
La stazione, la televisione, la stagione.

Collective Nouns

These are nouns that, in the singular form, indicate a group of individuals or objects like la gente (people), il popolo (population), la roba (stuff) commonly used in the singular, la squadra (team), la famiglia (family), la classe (class) also used in the plural.

Ex.: La gente in città è molto numerosa. (There are many people in the city.)
Ex.: La squadra di calcio del mio quartiere è molto forte. (My neighborhood's soccer team is very strong.)

Invariable Nouns

These are nouns that have only one form for both singular and plural. This category includes:

• some accented nouns ending in -à and -ù which are usually feminine like università (university), città (city), tribù (tribe), virtù (virtue);
Ex.: La Sapienza è un'università di Roma. ↔ Le università offrono molti corsi online. (La Sapienza is a university in Rome. ↔ Universities offer many online courses.)

• Foreign nouns, which are usually masculine. These words derive from Latin, Greek, or other languages like eros, gas, bar, computer, and autobus.
Ex.: Oggi ho perso l'autobus. ↔ Oggi gli autobus sono arrivati tutti in ritardo. (Today I missed the bus. ↔ Today all buses arrived late.)