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When feminine nouns end in unstressed **-cia** or **-gia**, forming their plural requires a spelling choice. The final **-a** becomes **-e**, but you must decide whether to keep the **i** (**-cie**, **-gie**) or drop it (**-ce**, **-ge**).

### The vowel and consonant rule

The plural ending depends entirely on the letter that comes right before the **-cia** or **-gia**:

- **Preceded by a vowel:** Keep the **i** in the plural (**-cie**, **-gie**). For example, *ciliegia* (cherry) is preceded by an *e*, so the plural is *ciliegie*.
- **Preceded by a consonant:** Drop the **i** in the plural (**-ce**, **-ge**). For example, *guancia* (cheek) is preceded by an *n*, so the plural is *guance*.

Notice how this single sentence uses both patterns:

{{item:820593}}

### Dropping the "i"

Many words for body parts and physical features have a consonant before the ending, meaning they drop the **i** in the plural. This applies to words like *pancia* (belly), *treccia* (braid), and *coscia* (thigh):

{{item:820597}}

{{item:820604}}

{{item:820607}}

### Keeping the "i"

When a vowel precedes the ending, the **i** stays. You will see this frequently with everyday objects like *valigia* (suitcase) and *camicia* (shirt).

{{item:820613}}

Notice how this sentence features a consonant-rule noun (*bilance*) alongside a vowel-rule noun (*valigie*):

{{item:820610}}

Feminine noun plurals in -cia and -gia (-ce, -ge)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
the cheek	la guancia
the cherry	la ciliegia
The baby's cheeks are as red as cherries.	Le guance del bambino sono rosse come le ciliegie.
soft	morbido
I like your soft cheeks.	Mi piacciono le tue guance morbide.
the belly	la pancia
The kittens have full bellies.	I gattini hanno le pance piene.
swollen	gonfio
Do you know why the kittens have swollen bellies?	Sai perché i gattini hanno le pance gonfie?
the fringe	la frangia
The fringes of the rug are very long.	Le frange del tappeto sono molto lunghe.
I do not like short fringes.	Non mi piacciono le frange corte.
the braid	la treccia
I like your long braids.	Mi piacciono le tue trecce lunghe.
Anna has two blonde braids.	Anna ha due trecce bionde.
the thigh	la coscia
I bought four chicken thighs.	Ho comprato quattro cosce di pollo.
I do not know how to cook the chicken thighs.	Non so come cucinare le cosce di pollo.
the scale	la bilancia
We have two scales to weigh the suitcases.	Abbiamo due bilance per pesare le valigie.
I do not know anything about the new suitcases.	Non so niente delle nuove valigie.
I have never eaten such good cherries.	Non ho mai mangiato ciliegie così buone.
Are the new shirts in the suitcases?	Le camicie nuove sono nelle valigie?
His cheeks are swollen and soft.	Le sue guance sono gonfie e morbide.
slender	snello
straight	liscio
The slender woman has smooth thighs.	La donna snella ha le cosce lisce.
The glass scales are smooth and the girl is slender.	Le bilance di vetro sono lisce e la ragazza è snella.
round	rotondo
The child has a round, soft face.	Il bambino ha la faccia rotonda e morbida.
I am buying a round table for the kitchen.	Compro un tavolo rotondo per la cucina.

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