Italian All-in-One For Dummies (99 page)

Universal nouns that switch gender

For nouns that aren't gender-specific, you take the masculine noun and change either the article alone or the article and the ending to make the noun feminine. This change can play out in several ways, depending on the spelling of the masculine noun.
Table 2-6
breaks down the possibilities.

Some names of professions or people's titles change the final
-e
to
-a,
such as
il cameriere
(
waiter
),
la cameriera
(
waitress
),
il signore
(
gentleman; Sir
), and
la signora
(
lady; Madam; Ms.
). There's neither rhyme nor reason to why these nouns take
-a
instead of
-essa,
except, perhaps, ease of pronunciation — camerieressa sounds horrible.

And newly invented words take either
-essa
or
-a,
like
l'avvocato
(
male lawyer
),
l'avvocatessa
(
female lawyer
),
l'architetto
(
male architect
), and
l'architetta
(
female architect
). How do you know whether a word is new? Practice and a dictionary.

Nouns used for both males and females

Some masculine nouns can refer to females, and some feminine nouns can refer to males. Nouns that are always masculine, regardless of the gender of the animal or person described include
il pavone
(
peacock
),
il serpente
(
snake
), and
il cicerone
(
tour guide
).

Some nouns that are always feminine, regardless of the gender of the animal or person described, are
la tigre
(
tiger
),
la volpe
(
fox
), and
la spia
(
spy
).

To distinguish between male and female animals, add the words
maschio
(
male
) and
femmina
(
female
) to the basic noun:

la volpe maschio
(
male fox
)

la volpe femmina
(
female fox
)

il serpente maschio
(
male snake
)

il serpente femmina
(
female snake
)

Moving from Singular to Plural: Basic Rules

As in English, Italian nouns can become plural by changing the ending, and the plural of nouns varies depending on the ending of the singular.
Table 2-7
illustrates the regular patterns.

Plural and singular nouns share some of the same endings, so it may be difficult to tell the number and gender of a noun such as
sere;
after all,
-e
is an ending for feminine plural nouns, masculine singular nouns, and feminine singular nouns. If the noun comes with the article, you know at once:
Le sere
is the feminine plural of
la sera
(
evening
). If the context doesn't help you, consult a dictionary (check out
Appendix B
for an Italian-English mini-dictionary). Dictionaries list nouns in their default form, usually the masculine singular form. You can use trial and error until you find the right noun.

Some nouns have both a masculine and a feminine plural, but there's no rule establishing which meaning is associated with which gender. You pick up on these variations as you encounter them in context. Here are some examples:

Making Exceptions to the Basic Rules on Number

With language, nothing's ever quite as simple as it may seem. When you get a rule or pattern, you have to accept the fact that languages can't be rationalized beyond a certain point. This section contains the many exceptions to those rules related to nouns and number.

Changing more than just the ending

Some groups of nouns don't change only the last vowel when you turn them into the plural but rather the entire last syllable. Other nouns switch genders. Check out the following rules:

Nouns ending in
-co, -go, -ca,
and
-ga,
which have a hard sound in the singular, add an
h
before the suffix of the plural to preserve it. See these examples:

cuoco
(
cook
)
cuochi
(
cooks
)

fungo
(
mushroom
)
funghi
(
mushrooms
)

barca
(
boat
)
barche
(
boats
)

strega
(
witch
)
streghe
(
witches
)

The most important words that are exceptions to this rule are
medico
(
physician
),
medici
(
physicians
);
amico
(
friend
),
amici
(
friends
); and
nemico
(
enemy
),
nemici
(
enemies
). However, the feminine versions —
amica
(
girlfriend
) and
nemica
(
female enemy
) — do become
amiche
(
girlfriends
) and
nemiche
(
female enemies
). Other words, such as
chirurgo
(
surgeon
),
chirurghi/chirurgi
(
surgeons
) and
stomaco
(
stomach
),
stomachi/stomaci
(
stomachs
), can have either ending.

Nouns ending in
-cia
or
-gia
accented on a syllable that isn't the last one add
-e
if the last syllable is preceded by a consonant, and they add
-ie
if the last syllable is preceded by a vowel. For example: