ILGUR: Italian Language, Grammar and Usage Resource

Nouns in Italian have a gender and a number: they are either masculine or feminine (maschile o femminile) or singular or plural (singolare o plurale).  Common nouns, or nomi comuni, are nouns that debscribe people, animals and things and are always start with a lowercase consonant or vowel.

For example:

il bicchiere | cup

lo studente | student

la macchina | car

l’ambiente | environment

l’emozione | emotion

Gender and number of nouns in Italian can usually be identified by the final vowel. Let’s look at the word, bambino:

bambino -> masculine, singular

bambina -> feminine, singular

bambini -> masculine, plural

bambine -> feminine, plural

As you can see, the final vowel tells us the gender and the number.  In Italian:

- nouns that end in -o are generally masculine:

il burro, il ragazzo, il libro

- nouns that end in -a are generally feminine:

la mela, la ragazza, la pesca

- almost all nouns that end in -i are feminine (these are of Greek origin):

la crisi, l’analisi, la tesi

- nouns that end in -amma or -ema, also of Greek origin, are masculine:

il programma, il problema, il tema, il sistema

- nouns that end in -tà and almost all nouns that end in -ù are feminine:

la carità, la città, la tribù, la gioventù

- nouns that end in -e can be the most perplexing, as their gender can be either masculine or feminine - if you are in doubt, consult the dictionary or check to see which definite article or articulated preposition is used:

la voce, la carne, il dolce, il latte

- nouns that end in -ione are generally feminine (but il maglione):

la formazione, la stazione, l’abitazione, la pressione, la decisione

The plural of Italian nouns follows these rules:

- nouns that end in -o change to -i:

il bambino -> i bambini

il libro -> i libri

- nouns that end in -a change to -e, unless nouns is masculine (as is common with many nouns that denote profession or are of Greek origin):

la ragazza -> le ragazze

il collega -> i colleghi

il programma -> i programmi

- Remember that the noun, la mano, even though it is feminine, ends in -i:

la mano -> le mani

- Nouns (masculine and feminine) that end in -e become -i:

lo studente -> gli studenti

la voce -> le voci

il dolce -> i dolci

- Nouns that end in consonants (typically words borrowed from other languages) or accented vowels are generally invariable and have the same form in the singular and plural:

il caffè -> i caffè

la città -> le città

il film -> i film

- Abbreviated feminine nouns also have the same form in the singular and plural:

l’auto -> le auto

la bici -> le bici

This is a series of posts on gender and number.  Part II will go into some more of the complexities — if you feel that we have left something important out, please leave a comment.

A confusing aspect of Italian grammar for many students is when to use and when not to use the definite article in Italian. This topic has been covered previously on this site:

• General rules: http://ilgur.com/2010/02/19/lesson-004-definite-article-larticolo-determinativo
• Use of the article with people: http://ilgur.com/2008/09/04/lesson-160-use-of-the-definite-article-with-people
• Use of the article with geography: http://ilgur.com/2008/08/06/lesson-158-using-the-definite-article-with-geography
• Additional rules: http://ilgur.com/2006/11/30/lesson-70-more-on-the-definite-article-larticolo-definito

Below are some general rules on when the definite article is omitted in Italian:

- The article is generally omitted when nouns are used adverbially, such as in prepositional phrases:

in fretta | in a hurry
in comune | in common
a babbo morto
in manette | in handcuffs
di sera | in the evening
di notte | at night
senza zucchero | sugarless

- Often the article omitted with verb + noun expressions, such as:

avere fame | to be hungry
prendere freddo | to catch a chill
fare freddo | to be cold (outside)
cambiare casa | to move (house)

- In many idiomatic expressions, the definite article is left out:

salvare capra e cavoli | to have it both ways
fare piedino | to play footsie
rendere pan per focaccia | to give tit for tat

- When the preposition, di, is followed by a material, the article is not used:

di legno
d’oro
di cotone

- In expressions that use the preposition, da, the definite article is omitted:

vaso da notte | chamber pot
biglietto da dollaro | dollar bill
nano da giardino | garden gnome
carte da gioco | playing cards

- You’ll see articles omitted in newspaper headlines, advertisements and classifieds; this is done, presumably, to save space and to make headlines and ads shorter for our shorter attention spans; recently on La Nuova Sardegna, the following headline was posted: “Marea nera lungo le coste della Sardegna” | Black tide along the coast of Sardinia

- The definite article is omitted with interrogative adjectives (or determiners), indefinite adjectives, and demonstratives:

Che macchina vuoi comprare?

What car do you want to buy?

Non voglio questa casa!

I don’t want this house!

Quella roba costa troppo!

That thing costs too much.

Domani compro qualche francobollo.

Tomorrow I am buying some stamps.

In Italian, there is some confusion over the differences between si impersonale constructions and si passivante.

The rules are pretty straightforward:

Si impersonale constructions do not have complements, as seen in the examples below:

Si vive bene in Italia.
Si mangia veloce alla mensa.

Si impersonale constructions always have the verb in the third person singular (see the examples above), but si passivante constructions have a direct object (un complemento diretto). If the noun is singular, then a verb in the third person singular is used. When the noun is plural, the verb in the third person plural is used:

In Norvegia si spendono molti soldi.  [plural]
In America non si compra la pasta fresca. [singular]

Si passivante constructions are actually passive phrases. We can re-write the two phrases used above:

In Norvegia vengono spesi molti soldi.
In America non è comprata la pasta fresca.

However, if the passive phrase contains an agent (da + noun/pronoun), then a si passivante construction cannot be used:

INCORRECT: Si vendono solo le mele verdi dai supermercati.

When you use reflexive verbs with il si impersonale, the reflexive si becomes ci in order to avoid the use of si si:

Non ci si dimentica.
One does not forget.

Solo le mele verdi sono vendute dai supermercati.
Only green apples are sold by supermarkets.

Recently, on my other blog, PdG, I used the word, la notizia, as an example to show how its usage differed from that of its English translation. After I posted it, there was some confusion and discussion about this noun. In the lesson/post below, I just wanted to discuss the differences in English and Italian between this noun.

In English, news is a noncount noun, much like the nouns milk, water, air, etc.

In English, a noncount noun might refer to:

1. a group or collection of certain things: mail, equipment, machinery, furniture, makeup, money, change
2. an item made up of smaller parts that cannot be counted: hair, sugar, rice, salt, sand, coffee, tea
3. an activity or abstraction that is comprised of other individual activities or attributes: work, housework, homework, advice, information, news, music
4. certain liquids: water, milk, soup, juice, coffee, tea
5. certain foods: bread, meat, chicken, fish, cheese, cotton, wool, cooper, glass
6. some nouns relating to the environment: air, land, oxygen, smoke, steam, wind, heat

An important grammar point to learn in Italian is the use of partitives (i partitivi). Partitives in Italian use the preposition, di, combined with the definite article (the same forms used for the prepositional articles), or, in some cases, alcuni/e, qualche or nessuno/a.

In Italian grammar, the plural partitive could be considered the plural form of the indefinite article: un, una, un’ and uno.

Partitive constructions are used to express an indeterminate parts of a whole (that is, you know it’s more than one but you don’t know exactly how many more): some milk (not the whole container), some pencils (not the entire case), some films (but not all of them), etc.

The partitive is generally more common in the plural, although it is used in the singular with some nouns, specifically noncount nouns (della birra, del latte, della crema, del pane, del formaggio, del vino, del caffè, etc.)*.

Partitives generally translate as some, some (of them), or any (usually in questions or negative sentences but take care — any can be a tricky word to translate from English to Italian.) Partitives can be used with both count nouns (like books, pens, cars, etc.) or noncount nouns (such as things that cannot counted, are abstract, or are mainly in the singular — wine, cheese, barley, bread, beer, milk, etc.).In Italian, the partitive is used with articulated forms of the preposition, di:

di + il = del

di + lo = dello

di + l’ = dell’

di + i = dei

di + gli = degli

di + la = della

di + le = delle

Here are some examples of the partitive used between count and noncount nouns:

Mangiamo del pane. (noncount)

Let’s eat some bread.

Vuoi dei biscotti? (count)

Do you want some cookies?

Hai mangiato della pasta? (noncount)

Did you eat some pasta?

Vorrei dello zucchero, per favore. (noncount)

I would like some sugar, please.

Vendono delle mele deliziose! (count)

They are selling some delicious apples!

Alcuni/alcune are used in the plural to denote the partitive. The singular forms, alcuno/a, are often used only as a partitive construction in negative constructions (although, according to many sources, this usage is not common):

Abbiamo comprato alcune carte per giocare a Poker.
We bought some cards in order to play Poker.

When listing a long list of partitives, they can often be left out for brevity, however it is not required:

Hanno comprato degli alberi, dei fiori, e dei semi.
They bought some trees, some flowers and some seeds.

or:

Hanno comprato alberi, fiori e semi.

Qualche + singular noun has the meaning Some + noun.  It can also be used instead of the preposition, di, but only with singular nouns (although the meaning is plural):

Qualche professore dà troppi compiti.
Some teachers give too much homework.

Partitives with the preposition, di, are not used in negative sentences:

Non ho soldi.
I don’t have any money.

Alcuno can be used to convey any in negative partitive constructions in order to avoid a double negative:

Non ho alcun tempo.
I don’t have any time.

Non state risparmiando alcuni soldi.
You are not saving any money.

Partitives are optional in questions, with the definite article sometimes omitted:

Vuoi dei dolci?
Want some candies?

Vuoi (i) dolci?
Want some candies?

Nessuno (and its variants: nessuna, nessun’, nessun) can be used in negative constructions, but, like qualche, they are used only with singular nouns although their meaning conveys the plural (notice how nessuno acts like the indefinite article):

Giovanna compra dei biglietti.
Giovanna is buying some tickets.

Giovanna non compra nessun biglietto.
Giovanna is not buying any tickets.

The articulated preposition, di, is typically avoided when the partitive occurs within a prepositional phrase. Alcuni/alcune make an excellent substitute or simply use nothing at all:

Siamo andati ad alcune feste durante il weekend.
We went to some parties during the weekend.

Sono andato al cinema con amici.
I went to the cinema with (some) friends.

The partitive of del, dello, and della is avoided with emotions, feelings and sensations that cannot be quantified, such as paura, speranza, gioia:

Ho paura!

not: Non ho della paura.(incorrect)

However, the partitive can be used with spirito, ingegno, buon senso and coraggio, to name a few.

*Of particular note with noncount nouns (in Italian, they use the term nome massa) when preceded by an indefinite article (un, una, uno) indicate a particular kind, aspect or quality of that noun. Remember that a nome massa is a noun that indicates an single entity of something — it works the same in English for the most part, with nouns like sugar, bread, wine, cheese. For example, the word, riso, in Italian, means rice. As in English, if you want to talk about one piece of rice, you have to quantify and/or qualify: a grain of rice, un chicco di riso. If you want to talk about a specific kind of rice, say for it has a certain quality, taste or other notable aspect, then you would use the indefinite article (un, una, uno) to convey this, and not the partitive: un riso saporito.

revised: 29 april 2010