Italian nouns of Greek origin
There are some Italian nouns that end in “a” but are masculine. Typically they have the ending of -ema or -amma. Be sure to watch your agreement when combining these nouns with adjectives!! Here is a list of some common nouns that follow this pattern:
il problema, i problemi (problem)
a complex problem = un problema complesso
il sistema, i sistemi (system)
il teorema, i teoremi (theorem)
il diagramma, i diagrammi (diagram)
il dramma, i drammi (drama)
il programma, i programmi (program)
il tema, i temi (theme)
Nouns that end in -si are also of Greek origin and equate to the English nouns that end in -sis. In Italian, these nouns are feminine and are invariable:
l’analisi (anlaysis)
la crisi (crisis)
l’ipotesi (hypothesis)
la tesi (thesis)
NB: The noun, il brindisi, is masculine because it is of Germanic origins.
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[...] almost all nouns that end in -i are feminine (these are of Greek origin): la crisi, l’analisi, la [...]