1.2.3: Il plurale dei nomi

Forming Plurals in Italian: From Panino to Panini

As you learn new Italian words, you will start to notice that their endings often change, especially when talking about more than one person or thing. In English, we usually add an "s" to make nouns plural. In Italian, the final vowel changes instead, most of the time following clear rules and patterns. Don’t worry if it feels like a lot at first. Just focus on noticing the changes and practicing a little at a time. The more you use them, the more natural they will start to feel and you will start to develop your "gut intuition".

Learning Objectives

• Identify regular plural endings for masculine and feminine nouns
• Recognize and apply both common and less common pluralization rules
• Understand and remember key exceptions to plural rules
• Predict plural forms based on noun endings and stress patterns
• Practice forming plurals using real-life bar and café vocabulary

Introduction: What Changes?

In English, we usually make nouns plural by adding -s (cup → cups). In Italian, we change the final vowel of the word. No extra letters—just a vowel swap.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Two forks (due forchette, feminine plural), two cups (due tazze, feminine plural), two glasses (due bicchieri, masculine plural). (Copyright CC BY-NC 4.0; Author Diana Ferrara)

 

Take a look at examples of singular and plural nouns commonly used in Italian cafés and bars.

Esempi di parole al bar

Singolare	Plurale
un panino [a sandwich]	due panini [two sandwiches]
una tazza [a cup]	due tazze [two cups]
un bicchiere [a glass]	due bicchieri [two glasses]
una brioche [a brioche/pastry]	due brioche [two brioches]
un caffè [a coffee]	due caffè [two coffees]
uno scontrino [a receipt]	due scontrini [two receipts]
un barista [a bartender, m.]	due baristi [two bartenders, m.]
una barista [a bartender, f.]	due bariste [two bartenders, f.]
un menu [a menu]	due menu [two menus]
un tavolo [a table]	due tavoli [two tables]
una porzione [a portion/serving]	due porzioni [two portions/servings]

What Are the Rules?

Complete these:

• Words ending in -o → -i

  • Example: panino → panini

• Words ending in -a → -e

  • Example: tazza → tazze

• Words ending in -e → -i

  • Examples: bicchiere → bicchieri, porzione → porzioni

• Words that end in a stressed vowel, or are shortened/foreign, do not change

  • Examples: caffè → caffè, menu → menu, brioche → brioche

Regular Patterns

Masculine Singular → Masculine Plural

Regular pluralization patterns for masculine nouns ending in -o and -e.

Singular	Plural	Change
panino	panini	-o → -i
bicchiere	bicchieri	-e → -i

Feminine Singular → Feminine Plural

Regular pluralization patterns for feminine nouns ending in -a and -e.

Singular	Plural	Change
bottiglia	bottiglie	-a → -e
nazione	nazioni	-e → -i

Other Patterns and Exceptions

• Foreign nouns don’t change

  • un bar → due bar
  • un film → due film

• Accented nouns stay the same

  • un caffè → due caffè
  • una città → due città

• Nouns ending in -i don’t change
  un'analisi → due analisi
  una crisi → due crisi

• Abbreviated nouns stay the same
  un cinema → due cinema
  una foto → due foto

• One-syllable nouns don’t change
  un re → due re

• Masculine nouns ending in –a take a regular masculine plural
  un problema → due problemi
  un poeta → due poeti

• Nouns ending in –ista have gendered plural forms
  un barista → due baristi
  una barista → due bariste

• Nouns ending in –io drop one ‘i’ unless stressed
  un orologio → due orologi
  uno zio → due zii

Special Plural Patterns

Nouns Ending in -co, -ca, -go, -ga

Add an -h in the plural to preserve the hard sound:

• un’amica → due amiche
• un’alga → due alghe

Exceptions:

• un medico → due medici
• un amico → due amici

Nouns Ending in –cia or –gia

• If the i is not stressed, it drops:
  un’arancia → due arance
  una spiaggia → due spiagge

• If the i is stressed, it stays:
  una farmacia → due farmacie

Irregular Forms

• un uomo → due uomini
• il braccio → le braccia

Study Tips

All these patterns, exceptions, and irregular forms might feel like a lot—and that’s completely normal. Focus on the regular plural patterns, which make up most cases:

• -o becomes -i (usually masculine)
• -a becomes -e (usually feminine)
• -e becomes -i (masculine or feminine)

Un passo alla volta

You don’t need to memorize every exception immediately. Get comfortable with core patterns first. Use vocabulary in real-life contexts and always learn new words with their article: un bicchiere, una tazza.

Practice Activities: Al Bar

Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\)

1. Singular or plural? (Singolare o plurale?)

Mark S for singular, P for plural, or S/P if the word can be both.

• tazza ______
• camerieri ______
• scontrino ______
• tavoli ______
• panino ______
• amiche ______
• cappuccino ______
• bicchieri ______
• brioche ______
• porzione ______
• bar ______
• città ______

Exercise \(\PageIndex{2}\)

Transform into the plural (Trasforma al plurale)

Change the following singular nouns into plural:

• una bottiglia →

• un cuoco →

• un problema →

• una città →

• un orologio →

• una spiaggia →

• un poeta →

• una foto →

• una barista →

• un’amica →

Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Find the odd one out (Trova l’intruso!)

Circle or underline the noun that doesn’t follow the same plural pattern. Explain why.

• lago – cuoco – medico – parco
• amico – biologo – psicologo – cuoco
• auto – tè– città – studente
• bottiglia – amica – pizza – cinema
• auto – cinema – foto – ragazzo

Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\)

What can you find in an Italian bar?  (Cosa c’è in un bar italiano?)

Change the nouns in parentheses to plural form:

Al bar “La Dolce Vita” ci sono sempre tante persone.
Sui tavoli ci sono molti ____________________ (menu).
I clienti ordinano tre____________________ (panino) e due ____________________ (bevanda).
I camerieri portano quattro____________________ (bicchiere) e due ____________________ (bottiglia) d’acqua.

Now your turn! (Ora tocca a te!)

Imagine you're at an Italian bar. List 5–10 items you see. Write the number and the correct plural form.

Examples:

• 3 cornetti

• 2 brioche

• 6 caffè