Italian grammar: Gender of nouns

The gender of Italian nouns

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(To better understand the contents of this lesson, we suggest you first read the section on Articles in Italian)

A noun is a word that represents a living being, a thing, a place or an abstract concept in order to identify and distinguish it from another living being, thing, place or abstract concept.

In Italian all nouns have a gender: masculine and feminine. There is not a neuter gender.

In general, the gender of nouns can be often established by ending or by meaning but, as there are so many exceptions, the best thing to do when learning a noun is to learn it together with its definite article.

In addition, for masculine nouns that refer to uman beings or animals and that do not have a different noun for the feminine, it is possible to form the feminine through some simple rules.

A good Italian dictionary can be of great help for Italian learners, since in it, nouns are listed with the definite article, gender and other useful information.

→ Go to: "Gender of nouns in Italian established by ending".
→ Go to: "Gender of nouns in Italian established by meaning".
→ Go to: "Formation of feminine in Italian".

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