Practice Makes Perfect Italian Chapter 1

General Maculine Noun Ending

-o

General Feminine Noun Ending

-a

Plural Masculine Noun Ending

-i

Noun Both Gender Ending

-e

Noun Both Gender Plural Ending

-i

What types of words aren’t capitalized (but are usually in English)?

Languages, Speakers of a Language, or Inhabitants of an Area

People and Animals Gender Ending is Determind by…

Their biological gender

Exceptions to the Biological Gender Rule

il Soprano and la Guardia

If the noun ends in -e, what indicates gender?

an Article or Adjective

Nouns with -e Masculine endings and -a feminine endings

il Cameriere, il Signore, and l’Infermiere

What plural ending is used for both genders?

-i

The plural ending to keep the hard sound in -co is?

-chi

The plural ending to keep the hard sound in -go is?

-ghi

The plural ending to keep the soft sound in -co is?

-ci

The plural ending to keep the soft sound in -go is?

-gi

If -co is preceded by e or i does the plural have a soft or hard ending?

-ci (soft)

If -co is not preceded by e or i does the plural have a soft or hard ending?

-chi (hard)

What ending is the exception to keeping the hard sound (ghi)?

-logo

Plural -ca Noun Ending

-che

Plural -ga Noun Ending

-ghe

Plural -cio Noun Ending

-ci

Plural -gio Noun Ending

gi

If the i is stressed in -io what happens in the plural?

It is retained (ex. zio→zii)

If the i is not stressed in -io what happens in the plural?

It is not retained (ex. occhio→occhi)

If the i is stressed in -cia and -gia what happens in the plural?

It is pronounced and thus retained in spelling

If the i indicates that the preceding consonant represents a soft sound in the singular but is not stressed in pronunciation for -cia and -gia what happens in the plural?

It is not retained in the spelling (ex. faccia→facce)

What word is the exception to the i stress rule?

Camicia (→camicie)

Count Nouns

things that can be counted (persons and things)

Mass Nouns

Things that can’t be counted and therefore generally have only a singular form (ex. l’acqua)

What grammatical rules do proper nouns follow?

Gender rules and capitalization (ex. il Tevere)

What do italians usually use when addressing people?

Titles (ex. Signore)

What precedes a title?

A definite article (ex. il/la)

In direct speech what happens to the definite article?

it is dropped when a name is used

If a male name follows a title what happens to the noun.

You drop the final -e

How many regions does Italy have?

20 regions each with a capital