When masculine nouns end in -co or -go, forming their plural requires a spelling change. The final vowel becomes -i, but you must also decide whether to keep the consonant sound "hard" (like a "k" or hard "g") or let it become "soft" (like a "ch" or "j").
The stress rule: "-chi" vs. "-ci"
For most words, the plural ending depends on where the emphasis falls in the singular word:
- Stress on the next-to-last syllable: Add an h to keep the hard sound (-chi, -ghi). For example, elenco (list) is stressed on the len, so the plural is elenchi.
- Stress on the third-to-last syllable: Do not add an h. The sound softens (-ci, -gi). For example, storico (historian) is stressed on the sto, so the plural is storici.
Notice how this single sentence uses both patterns:
| The publishers have prepared the lists of the historians. | Gli editori hanno preparato gli elenchi degli storici. |
The "-logo" trick
Words ending in -logo often have the stress on the third-to-last syllable, but they have their own simple pattern based on meaning rather than stress:
- Things and concepts keep the hard sound by adding an h (-ghi).
- People and professions take the soft sound without an h (-gi).
Because catalogues, prologues, and epilogues are things, they take the hard -ghi ending:
| I would like the catalogues of these new authors. | Vorrei i cataloghi di questi nuovi autori. |
| These authors never write prologues or epilogues. | Questi autori non scrivono mai prologhi o epiloghi. |
But a word like psicologo (psychologist) refers to a person, so it takes the soft -gi ending:
| Psychologists also study the past, but historians know it better. | Anche gli psicologi studiano il passato, ma gli storici lo conoscono meglio. |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io
