Ripasso di grammatica elementare

I. Nomi e l'articolo indeterminativo

A. Regular nouns

In Italian, nouns are either masculine or feminine. Nouns that end in -o are usually masculine (circolo). Nouns that end in -a are usually feminine (paninoteca). Nouns that end in -e can be either masculine or feminine (costume m., televisione f.). The gender of nouns ending in -e must be memorized, but certain general rules do apply.

1. Nouns that end in -ore are usually masculine.
l'attore, lo scrittore, il videoregistratore

2. Nouns that end in -trice are mostly feminine.
l'attrice, la scrittrice, la pittrice

3. Nouns that end in -ione are usually feminine as well.
la tradizione, la suggestione, l'informazione

B. Irregular nouns

1. Some nouns that end in -o are feminine and some that end in -a are masculine. Typically, these words are shortened versions of their original forms, such as motocicletta moto.
la radio, l'auto, la foto, il cinema

2. Italian nouns that end in consonants are all of foreign origin. Most are masculine.
l'autobus, il bar, lo sport, il film

3. Nouns that end in -à are usually feminine, like città and università. Nouns that end in -è are usually masculine, such as caffè. Nouns that end in -ù are usually feminine, such as virtù.

C. The indefinite article

The indefinite article means a or an. It has four forms. The appropriate form depends on the gender of the word it modifies and the first letter(s) of the word that follows the article.

Un is used with masculine nouns that begin with a vowel or with most consonants.
Uno is used with masculine nouns that begin with s + consonant, gn, ps, or z.
Una is used with feminine nouns that begin with a consonant.
Un' is used with feminine nouns that begin with a vowel.

Singular indefinite articles
Masculine	Feminine
un diario	una lingua
un oggetto	un'italiana
uno scambio

D. Plural nouns

1. The plural of a noun is usually formed by changing its ending.

Singular ending		Plural ending
-o	campo	-i	campi
-a	mela	-e	mele
-e	trasmissione, f.	-i	trasmissioni

Note that both masculine and feminine nouns that end in -e form their plurals with -i.

2. Nouns that end in -io often form the plural with just one -i.
personaggio personaggi

3. To preserve the hard sound of the c or g, nouns ending in -co and -go acquire an h in the plural.
banco banchi

Note: Exceptions include amico amici, greco greci, nemico nemici, and words whose emphasis falls on the third-to-last syllable: medico medici, tecnico tecnici.

4. Words that end in -ca and -ga require an h in the plural for the same reason:
amica amiche, elettronica elettroniche.

Singular ending		Plural ending
-io	desiderio	-i	desideri
-co	parco	-chi	parchi
-go	svago	-ghi	svaghi
-ca	amica	-che	amiche
-ga	targa	-ghe	targhe

5. The following nouns, all shortened forms of longer nouns, do not change their endings in the plural.

un cinema	due cinema
una radio	due radio
una moto	due moto
un'auto	due auto
una bici	due bici

Esercizio 1: L'articolo indeterminativo
Esercizio 2: L'articolo indeterminativo
Esercizio 3: Plurali dei nomi

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II. L'articolo determinativo

The definite article corresponds to the in English. The definite article refers to specific things or people, in contrast to the indefinite article, which refers to any member of the category designated by the noun. The form of the definite article is determined by the gender and number of the noun it modifies and the first letter(s) of the word that follows the article.

A. Singular forms

Il is used with masculine nouns that begin with most consonants.
Lo is used with masculine nouns that begin with s + consonant, gn, ps, or z.
La is used with feminine nouns that begin with a consonant.
L' is used with masculine and feminine nouns that begin with a vowel.

Singular definite articles
Masculine	Feminine
il consumismo	la musica
lo stile	l'influenza
l'orario

B. Plural forms

I is used with masculine nouns that begin with most consonants.
Gli is used with masculine nouns that begin with s + consonant, gn, ps, z, or a vowel.
Le is used with all feminine nouns.

Plural definite articles
Masculine	Feminine
i termini	le pizzerie
gli avvenimenti	le immagini
gli uffici

Esercizio 1: L'articolo determinativo
Esercizio 2: Articoli determinativi e nomi dal singolare al plurale

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III. Esercizi supplementari sull'indicativo presente

Esercizio 1: Verbi regolari al presente indicativo
Esercizio 2: Verbi regolari al presente indicativo

Ripasso di Capitolo 1

Esercizio 1: Il comparativo
Esercizio 2: Comparativi di uguaglianza
Esercizio 3: Comparativi e superlativi irregolari
Esercizio 4: Avverbi comparativi e superlativi