Learn Italian: Ho tre paia di guanti nuovi. - I have three pairs of new gloves.

Paia is one of Italian's special irregular plurals! The singular word is il paio (the pair), which is masculine. But in the plural, it changes to feminine and takes an -a ending to become le paia. You will see this same tricky pattern with a few other words in this lesson, like il centinaio (the hundred) becoming le centinaia.

Since paia is a feminine plural, why is the adjective nuovi masculine?

The adjective nuovi (new) is describing the gloves (i guanti), which is masculine, not the pairs (le paia). If you wanted to say "I have three new pairs of gloves", you would match the adjective to the pairs: Ho tre paia nuove di guanti.

Why do we use just di here, rather than a combined word like dei?

When you use a quantity word like a pair, a kilo, or a glass, you connect it to the next noun with the simple preposition di (of). You do not add the word for "the", because you are just saying "pairs of gloves", not "pairs of the gloves".

I always forget: why does nuovi come after guanti?

This is a great time for a quick refresher! In Italian, descriptive adjectives like colors, shapes, and conditions (like nuovi) almost always go after the noun they describe.