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Teaching guidelines +/- 15 minutes

Learn how to identify and use the gender (maschile/femminile) and number (singolare/plurale) of Italian nouns like 'ragazzo' (boy) and 'ragazza' (girl), including common plural endings and irregular forms such as 'braccio' to 'braccia'.
  1. There are masculine and feminine nouns.
  2. The article always agrees with the gender.
 Singolare (Singular)Plurale (Plural)
Maschile -o-iIl ragazzo (The boy)I ragazzi (The boys)
Femminile -a -eLa ragazza (The girl)Le ragazze (The girls)
Maschile -e-iL'abitante (The inhabitant)Gli abitanti (The inhabitants)
Femminile -e -iLa nazione (The nation)Le nazioni (The nations)

Exceptions!

  1. Some plurals are irregular: il braccio becomes le braccia in the plural.

Exercise 1: Genere e numero dei sostantivi

Instruction: Fill in the correct word.

Show translation Show answers

abitante, l'uomo, ragazze, ragazzo, ragazza, città, uomini

1.
Conosco una ... di Napoli.
(I know a girl from Naples.)
2.
Le ... parlano italiano.
(The girls speak Italian.)
3.
Vivo con un ... di Roma.
(I live with an inhabitant of Rome.)
4.
Conosco ... che vive lì.
(I know the man who lives there.)
5.
Lui è un ... di Milano.
(He is a boy from Milan.)
6.
Gli ... sono arrivati tardi.
(The men arrived late.)
7.
Abitiamo in una ... piccola.
(We live in a small town.)
8.
Ci sono due ... famose in Italia.
(There are two famous cities in Italy.)

Exercise 2: Multiple Choice

Instruction: Choose the correct solution

1. ___ ragazzo è di Milano.

(___ boy is from Milan.)

2. ___ studente studia italiano.

(___ student studies Italian.)

3. ___ città è bellissima.

(___ city is beautiful.)

4. ___ zia lavora a Roma.

(___ aunt works in Rome.)

5. ___ studente è in aula.

(___ student is in the classroom.)

6. ___ amico è italiano.

(___ friend is Italian.)

Gender and Number of Italian Nouns

This lesson explains one of the fundamental concepts in Italian grammar: the gender (genere) and number (numero) of nouns (sostantivi). Understanding how nouns change form and how articles agree with them is essential for building correct sentences.

Masculine and Feminine Nouns

Italian nouns are either masculine or feminine. The gender is usually identifiable by the word ending in the singular form, which often changes when converting the noun into plural.

  • Masculine nouns often end in -o in the singular and change to -i in the plural. For example: Il ragazzo (the boy) becomes I ragazzi (the boys).
  • Feminine nouns often end in -a in the singular and change to -e in the plural. For example: La ragazza (the girl) becomes Le ragazze (the girls).
  • Some masculine nouns end in -e in the singular and become -i in the plural, like L'abitante (the inhabitant) and Gli abitanti (the inhabitants).
  • Similarly, some feminine nouns end in -e and change to -i in plural, for example: La nazione (the nation) and Le nazioni (the nations).

Articles Agree with Gender and Number

Articles (articoli) in Italian always agree with the gender and number of the noun they refer to:

  • Masculine singular: il, lo, l'
  • Masculine plural: i, gli
  • Feminine singular: la, l'
  • Feminine plural: le

For example, Il ragazzo (the boy) becomes I ragazzi (the boys), and La nazione (the nation) becomes Le nazioni (the nations).

Irregular Plural Forms

Not all plurals follow these endings — some nouns have irregular plural forms. For instance, il braccio (the arm) becomes le braccia in plural, which is feminine plural even though the singular is masculine.

Useful Words and Expressions

  • Il ragazzo – the boy
  • I ragazzi – the boys
  • La ragazza – the girl
  • Le ragazze – the girls
  • L'abitante – the inhabitant
  • Gli abitanti – the inhabitants
  • La nazione – the nation
  • Le nazioni – the nations
  • Il braccio / Le braccia – the arm(s) (irregular plural)

Differences Between English and Italian in Gender and Number

English nouns do not have grammatical gender, so articles like "the" remain the same regardless of the noun's gender. Italian nouns are gender-specific, requiring the speaker to learn masculine and feminine forms, including corresponding articles. Additionally, plural formation in English is often straightforward (usually adding -s or -es), while Italian plural endings depend on the noun’s gender and ending, with some irregular exceptions.

Examples of useful phrases highlighting these differences:

  • Il ragazzo è di Milano. (The boy is from Milan.) – uses masculine singular article il.
  • Lo studente studia italiano. (The student studies Italian.) – uses the masculine singular article lo before nouns starting with specific consonant clusters.
  • La città è bellissima. (The city is beautiful.) – feminine singular article la.
  • Una zia lavora a Roma. (An aunt works in Rome.) – feminine indefinite article una.

Understanding and practicing these patterns will greatly improve your accuracy in using Italian nouns and articles.

Written by

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Fabio Pirioni

Bachelor in Humanities

University of Udine

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Last Updated:

Thursday, 17/07/2025 10:59