Irregular noun plurals (le mani, gli uomini)

Completely irregular plurals

Most Italian nouns follow predictable patterns, but a few high-frequency words are completely irregular. For example, l'uomo (the man) changes its stem entirely to become gli uomini (the men).

Meanwhile, la mano (the hand) is a rare feminine noun that ends in -o. In the plural, it follows the standard rule of changing its ending to -i, becoming le mani.

Body parts that swap genders

Many body parts that come in pairs or groups have a strange quirk inherited from Latin. They are masculine in the singular (ending in -o) but become feminine in the plural and take an -a ending.

Because their plural forms are feminine, they use the feminine plural article le and must be described with feminine plural adjectives.

There is one body part that becomes feminine in the plural but takes an -e ending instead of an -a: l'orecchio (the ear) becomes le orecchie.

Other nouns that swap genders

This masculine-to-feminine plural shift isn't restricted exclusively to body parts. A few very common everyday items do the exact same thing, changing from a masculine -o to a feminine -a.