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Il plurale dei nomi femminili / The plural of feminine nouns.

Based on the termination of the singular feminine nouns, the plural is formed according to the following criteria:

A) Feminine nouns ending in –a

1. Singular feminine nouns ending in -a in the plural end in -e:

Exception: L’ala (The wing) Le ali – L’arma (The weapon) Le armi.

SingularPlural
La stanza (The room)Le stanze
La casa (The home)Le case
La sera (The evening)Le sere
La pianta (The plant)Le piante
La figlia (The daughter)Le figlie

2. Singular feminine nouns ending in (-ca/-ga) in the plural end in (-che/-ghe):

SingularPlural
L’amica (The friend)Le amiche
La greca (The Greek)Le greche
La banca (The bank)Le banche
La strega (The witch)Le streghe
La bottega (The shop)Le botteghe
La riga (The line)Le righe

3. Singular feminine nouns ending in (-cia/-gia) in the plural end in (-cie/-gie):

When c, g are preceded by a vowel, they retain the i in the plural.

SingularPlural
La farmacia (The pharmacy)Le farmacie
La bugia ( The lie)Le bugie
La magia (magic)Le magie
La ciliegia (The cherry)Le ciliegie
La camicia (The shirt)Le camicie
La valigia (The suitcase)Le valigie

4. Singular feminine nouns ending in (-cia/-gia) in the plural end in (-ce/-ge):

When -c, -g are preceded by a consonant, they lose the i in the plural.

SingularPlural
La provincia (The province)Le province
La caccia (The hunt)Le cacce
La doccia (The shower)Le docce
La frangia (The bangs)Le frange
La pancia (The belly)Le pance
La spiaggia (The beach)Le spiagge
La pioggia (The rain)Le piogge
La frangia (The fringe)Le frange
La pronuncia (The pronunciation)Le pronunce

B) Feminine nouns ending in –o

1. Singular feminine nouns ending in -o in the plural end in –i:

Singular: La mano (The hand) Plural: Le mani.

2. Some female nouns ending in -o in the plural remain unchanged:

Singular:  La dinamo (The dynamo) La moto (The motorcycle) La sdraio (The deckchair) La radio (The radio)
Plural: Le dinamo
Le motoLe sdraio – Le radio.

C) Feminine nouns ending in –e

Singular Feminine nouns ending in -e in the plural end in -i:

SingularPlural
La madre (The mother)Le madri
La stazione (The station)Le stazioni
La regione (The region)Le regioni
La chiave (The key)Le chiavi
La scrittrice (The writer)Le scrittrici
La lezione (The lesson)Le lezioni
La classe (The class)Le classi
La madre (The mother)Le madri
La stazione (The station)Le stazioni
La regione (The region)Le regioni

D) Feminine nouns ending in –i, -ù, à or ie

Feminine nouns that end in -i, -ù or ie in the plural remain unchanged:

SingularPlural
La gioventù (The youth)Le gioventù
La virtù (The virtue)Le virtù
La servitù (The servitude) Le servitù
La tribù (The tribe)Le tribù
La gru (The crane)Le gru
L’ipotesi (The hypothesis)Le ipotesi
La crisi (The crisis)Le crisi
L’oasi (The oasis)Le oasi
La metropoli (The metropolis)Le metropoli
La sintesi (The synthesis)Le sintesi
La parentesi (The parenthesis)Le parentesi
La città (the citty) La città
La serie (The series)Le serie

Exercises on the lesson here