Plurals and the indefinite article
Italian doesn't add -s to make plurals. Instead, the final vowel changes: -o becomes -i, -a becomes -e, and -e becomes -i for both genders. Today we also learn 'a / an' (un, uno, una, un') and the plural 'the' (i, gli, le) β all four track the same gender + first-letter logic from lesson 4.
Plural endings β the three rules
-o β -i (masculine): libro β libri, gatto β gatti, amico β amici (the C softens before the I β purely a spelling thing). -a β -e (feminine): casa β case, pizza β pizze, amica β amiche (the H keeps the C hard before the E). -e β -i (either gender): studente β studenti, chiave β chiavi, fiore β fiori. There's no separate plural ending β knowing the gender of the singular tells you the gender of the plural.
Indefinite articles β un, uno, una, un'
Italian's 'a / an' tracks the same starts-with logic as 'the'. Masculine: un before most consonants and vowels β un libro, un amico (no apostrophe needed in the masculine). Uno before s+consonant, z, gn, ps β uno studente, uno zio. Feminine: una before consonants β una casa, una pizza. Un' with apostrophe before vowels β un'amica, un'universitΓ .
Plural 'the' β i, gli, le
Masculine plural: i before most consonants β i libri, i gatti. Gli before vowels, s+consonant, z, gn, ps β basically wherever lo or l' went in the singular: gli amici, gli studenti, gli zii. Feminine plural: le for everything β le case, le amiche, le universitΓ . No elision in the plural β Italian writes le amiche, never l'amiche.
No plural for 'a / some'
There's no direct plural of un/una. To say 'some' Italians use dei, degli, delle (the plural of the article + di) β but at A1 you can also drop the article entirely. Ho amici a Roma = I have friends in Rome. Ci sono libri sul tavolo = There are books on the table. We'll cover dei/degli/delle properly later.
Watch the spelling shift: amici / amiche
When -co/-ca becomes plural, an H may slip in or fall out to keep the consonant sound. amico β amici (the C softens before -i, which Italian wants here). amica β amiche (the H is added so the C stays hard before -e). Same with -go/-ga: gioco β giochi (game β games). It looks fussy but it's just spelling preserving the sound.
