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### 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**.

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### 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.

| Singular (Masculine) | Plural (Feminine) |
|---|---|
| il braccio (arm) | le braccia |
| il dito (finger) | le dita |
| il ginocchio (knee) | le ginocchia |
| il labbro (lip) | le labbra |
| l'osso (bone) | le ossa |

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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**.

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### 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**.

| Singular (Masculine) | Plural (Feminine) |
|---|---|
| l'uovo (egg) | le uova |
| il paio (pair) | le paia |
| il lenzuolo (sheet) | le lenzuola |

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Irregular noun plurals (le mani, gli uomini)

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
hand	la mano
The men wash their hands slowly.	Gli uomini si lavano le mani lentamente.
Your hands are dirty, you must wash them.	Le tue mani sono sporche, le devi lavare.
arm	il braccio
finger	il dito
I have two arms and ten fingers.	Ho due braccia e dieci dita.
The boy's arms are very strong.	Le braccia del ragazzo sono molto forti.
My fingers are very cold.	Ho le dita molto fredde.
knee	il ginocchio
Your knees are dirty.	Hai le ginocchia sporche.
My grandfather has weak knees.	Mio nonno ha le ginocchia deboli.
ear	l'orecchio
Cats have small ears.	I gatti hanno le orecchie piccole.
lip	il labbro
She has big ears and red lips.	Lei ha le orecchie grandi e le labbra rosse.
I like your lips.	Mi piacciono le tue labbra.
bone	l'osso
The arm bones are broken.	Le ossa del braccio sono rotte.
I am ninety years old and my bones are weak.	Ho novant'anni e le mie ossa sono deboli.
egg	l'uovo
Do you like eggs for breakfast?	Ti piacciono le uova per colazione?
pair	il paio
I want to buy a pair of shoes and ten eggs.	Voglio comprare un paio di scarpe e dieci uova.
I have three pairs of new gloves.	Ho tre paia di guanti nuovi.
sheet	il lenzuolo
The sheets are dirty, you must wash them.	Le lenzuola sono sporche, le devi lavare.
Are the red sheets on the bed?	Le lenzuola rosse sono sul letto?