Ponti –Grammar Review

Capitolo 1: La nostalgia comincia dalla pancia... per fortuna che c'è McDonald's!

Signora Harrington

Nomi e l'articolo indeterminativo Regular nouns 

In Italian, nouns are either masculine or feminine.

Nouns that end in -o are usually masculine (circolo).

Nouns that end in -a are usually feminine (paninoteca).

Nouns that end in -e can be either masculine or feminine (costume m., televisione f.).

The gender of nouns ending in -e must be memorized, but certain general rules do apply. 

1. Nouns that end in -ore are usually masculine. l'attore, lo scrittore, il videoregistratore 

2. Nouns that end in -trice are mostly feminine. l'attrice, la scrittrice, la pittrice 

3. Nouns that end in -ione are usually feminine as well. la tradizione, la suggestione, l'informazione 

Irregular nouns  Some nouns that end in -o are feminine and some that end

in -a are masculine.

Typically, these words are shortened versions of their original forms, such as motocicletta   moto. la radio, l'auto, la foto, il cinema 

Italian nouns that end in consonants are all of foreign origin. Most are masculine. l'autobus, il bar, lo sport, il film 

Nouns that end in -à are usually feminine, like città and università. Nouns that end in -è are usually masculine, such as caffè.

Nouns that end in -ù are usually feminine, such as virtù. 

The indefinite article  The indefinite article means a or an. It has four forms.

The appropriate form depends on the gender of the word it modifies and the first letter(s) of the word that follows the article. 

Un is used with masculine nouns that begin with a vowel or with most consonants. 

Uno is used with masculine nouns that begin with s + consonant, gn, ps, or z. 

Una is used with feminine nouns that begin with a consonant. 

Un' is used with feminine nouns that begin with a vowel.

Singular indefinite articles (a/an)Singular indefinite articles

Male Femaleun diario una linguaun oggetto un’italianauno scambio una casa

Plural nouns

Singular ending Plural ending

o Campo i Campia Mela e Melee Transmission

ei trasmissioni

Note!!! Note that both masculine and feminine nouns that end in -e form

their plurals with -i. 

Nouns that end in -io often form the plural with just one -i. personaggio   personaggi 

To preserve the hard sound of the c or g, nouns ending in -co and -go acquire an h in the plural. banco   banchi 

Note: Exceptions include amico   amici, greco   greci, nemico   nemici, and words whose emphasis falls on the third-to-last syllable: medico   medici, tecnico   tecnici. 

Words that end in -ca and -ga require an h in the plural for the same reason: amica   amiche, elettronica   elettroniche.

Plural nounsSingular ending Plural Ending

io Desiderio i Desideri

co Parco chi Parchi

go Svago ghi Svaghi

ca Amica che Amiche

ga Targa ghe targhe

Irregulars

The following nouns, all shortened forms of longer nouns, do not change their endings in the plural. 

un cinema due cinema una radio due radio una moto due moto un'auto due auto una bici due bici

Online exercises

Esercizio 1: L'articolo indeterminativo

Esercizio 2: L’articolo indeterminativo

Esercizio 3: Plurali dei nomi

L'articolo determinativo 

The definite article corresponds to the in English. The definite article refers to specific things or people, in contrast to the indefinite article, which refers to any member of the category designated by the noun.

The form of the definite article is determined by the gender and number of the noun it modifies and the first letter(s) of the word that follows the article. 

Singular forms 

Il is used with masculine nouns that begin with most consonants. 

Lo is used with masculine nouns that begin with s + consonant, gn, ps, or z. 

La is used with feminine nouns that begin with a consonant. 

L' is used with masculine and feminine nouns that begin with a vowel.

Singular definite articles

Singular definite articles

Mascio Femina

Il consumismo la musica

lo stile l’influenza

l’orario la moto

Plural forms 

I is used with masculine nouns that begin with most consonants. 

Gli is used with masculine nouns that begin with s + consonant, gn, ps, z, or a vowel. 

Le is used with all feminine nouns.

Plural definite articles

Mascio

i termini le pizzerie

gli avvenimenti le immagini

gli uffici le case

Esercizi

Esercizio 1: L’articolo determinative Esercizio 2: Articolo determinativi e

nomi dal singolare al plurale