Italian Nouns

Gender of Nouns

Italian nouns have a gender: they can be masculine or feminine. This does not always equate to the ‘gender’ of the object as viewed by English-speakers.
The gender of a noun often, but not always, can be identified from the ending of the noun.
Generally, nouns ending in -o are masculine, and those ending in -a are feminine.
There are exceptions to this rule: e.g., ‘mano’ (hand) is feminine despite ending in -o.
Some nouns are identical in both masculine and feminine forms but the article determines the gender. E.g. ‘il turista’ (the male tourist) and ‘la turista’ (the female tourist).

Singular and Plural Nouns

Like English, Italian nouns have singular and plural forms, the latter often marked by a change in the noun ending.
For masculine nouns ending in -o, the plural usually ends in -i.
For feminine nouns ending in -a, the plural usually ends in -e.
Nouns ending in -e can be either masculine or feminine, and the plural ends in -i.
As with gender, there are exceptions to these rules.

Use of Articles

Definite articles (‘the’ in English) in Italian are ‘il’, ‘lo’, ‘la’, ‘i’, ‘gli’, and ‘le’. The form used depends on the gender, number, and initial letter(s) of the following word.
Indefinite articles (‘a’ or ‘an’ in English) in Italian are ‘un’, ‘uno’, and ‘una’. The form to use depends on the gender and initial letter(s) of the following word.
Remember to adjust articles for gender and number when a noun’s state changes.

Irregularities

Just like in other languages, there are many irregularities in Italian nouns.
Be aware of unchangeable nouns, which stay the same in both the singular and plural: e.g., ‘il sport’ (the sport), ‘i sport’ (the sports).
Also, be aware of nouns that change gender from singular to plural: e.g., ‘il uovo’ (the egg) becomes ‘le uova’ (the eggs).
Always refer back to vocabulary notes and mnemonic aids to help remember exceptions.

Remember, practice makes perfect. The more you practice using these rules and identifying their exceptions, the more naturally your usage of Italian nouns will become. Try to read and listen to a lot of Italian to keep on encountering these words in context.