Italian grammar basics: gender
Unlike English, where you can find 3 “genders” – he, she, or it – the Italian language
only has 2: LUI (he) and LEI (she)
Nouns are either feminine or masculine, regardless of their human or non-human nature.
LEI
PAPRIKA: It sounds confusing… How does it work when you want to say tree, for example? Or dog?
ME: You will need to use either lui (he) or lei (she) depending on the gender of the word.
PAPRIKA: Ah…
ME: Dog, for example, is cane in Italian, and it happens to be a masculine noun. So, when you refer
to a dog in general, this will be a lui. The same goes for a cat, gatto in Italian.
PAPRIKA: But my little kitten is a female.
ME: If you know the actual gender of an animal, in that case, you would use the feminine form of the noun. So, you would say cagna for a female dog and gatta for a female cat.
PAPRIKA: What a nightmare!
The truth is that it’s not that difficult. All words are either feminine or masculine. Although there is a general “rule” to identify what gender a word is, you’ll need a good memory… I must admit… to remember the exceptions. Like with any other language, Italian has exceptions too! The general indication that will help you work out the gender of a word (in most cases) is as follows…
– Words ending with the letter “a” are feminine
– Words ending with the letter “o” are masculine
I mentioned gatto above. Gatt-o is masculine. Some other examples of masculine words all ending with the letter o…
CIELO = SKY
OROSCOPO = HOROSCOPE
VIAGGIO = TRAVEL/TRIP
LUI
PAPRIKA: But what about cane? You said it’s masculine, but it doesn’t end with an o
ME: Bravo! For words like cane, you will need to rely on your memory initially… but you’ll get used to the most basic exceptions. It’ll just become second nature over time!
PAPRIKA: Second nature, lol… Yes, right
ME: Hey, missy! You need a positive attitude when learning a new language or don’t even bother!
So, again… Words ending with the letter e can be both feminine and masculine
PAPRIKA: Cane is masculine, you said…
ME: Exactly. But take the word gente, which translates to people in English. It ends with e, but it’s feminine.
PAPRIKA: Hmm… the plot thickens…
Italian grammar basics: gender
Grammar: gender
Unlike English, where you can find 3 “genders” – he, she, or it – the Italian language
only has 2:
LUI (he) and LEI (she)
Nouns are either feminine or masculine, regardless of their human or non-human nature.
LEI
PAPRIKA: It sounds confusing… How does it work when you want to say tree, for example? Or dog?
ME: You will need to use either lui (he) or lei (she) depending on the gender of the word.
PAPRIKA: Ah…
ME: Dog, for example, is cane in Italian, and it happens to be a masculine noun. So, when you refer to a dog in general, this will be a lui. The same goes for a cat, gatto in Italian.
PAPRIKA: But my little kitten is a female.
ME: If you know the actual gender of an animal, in that case, you would use the feminine form of the noun. So, you would say cagna for a female dog and gatta for a female cat.
PAPRIKA: What a nightmare!
The truth is that it’s not that difficult. All words are either feminine or masculine. Although there is a general “rule” to identify what gender a word is, you’ll need a good memory… I must admit… to remember the exceptions. Like with any other language, Italian has exceptions too! The general indication that will help you work out the gender of a word (in most cases) is as follows…
– Words ending with the letter “a” are feminine
– Words ending with the letter “o” are masculine
I mentioned gatto above.
Gatt-o is masculine. Some other examples of masculine words all ending with the letter o…
CIELO = SKY
OROSCOPO = HOROSCOPE
VIAGGIO = TRAVEL/TRIP
LUI
PAPRIKA: But what about cane? You said it’s masculine, but it doesn’t end with an o
ME: Bravo! For words like cane, you will need to rely on your memory initially… but you’ll get used to the most basic exceptions. It’ll just become second nature over time!
PAPRIKA: Second nature, lol… Yes, right
ME: Hey, missy! You need a positive attitude when learning a new language or don’t even bother!
So, again… Words ending with the letter e can be both feminine and masculine
PAPRIKA: Cane is masculine, you said…
ME: Exactly. But take the word gente, which translates to people in English. It ends with e, but it’s feminine.
PAPRIKA: Hmm… the plot thickens…
