Irregular Plurals in Italian: Rules, Exceptions and Exercises

🇮🇹 Leggi questo articolo in italiano

By Rossana Pazzaglia, native Italian teacher with a CEDILS certification in teaching Italian to foreigners (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice) · Updated 19 October 2026

You have already learnt the basic plural rule: -o → -i, -a → -e, -e → -i (if you need a refresher, read gender and number of nouns in Italian). Then along come words like amici, uova, città, uomini… and the rule seems to stop working. Don’t panic: even the “exceptions” almost always follow a small logic. Let’s uncover it together, case by case (A2 level).

1. Nouns ending in -co and -go

The rule depends on stress:

• stress on the second-to-last syllable → -chi / -ghi: il fuoco → i fuochi (fire), il lago → i laghi (lake), il parco → i parchi (park);
• stress on the third-to-last syllable → -ci / -gi: il medico → i medici (doctor), lo psicologo → gli psicologi (psychologist).

Exceptions to remember: amico → amici (friend), nemico → nemici (enemy), greco → greci (Greek), porco → porci (pig); and the other way round carico → carichi (load), dialogo → dialoghi, catalogo → cataloghi, obbligo → obblighi (obligation).

2. Nouns ending in -ca and -ga

This one is simpler: you always add an h to keep the hard sound.

• feminine: l’amica → le amiche, la riga → le righe (line), la banca → le banche;
• masculine: il collega → i colleghi, il monarca → i monarchi.

3. Nouns ending in -io

• if the i is unstressed, the plural has one i: il figlio → i figli (son), il negozio → i negozi (shop), l’occhio → gli occhi (eye);
• if the i is stressed, the plural has two: lo zio → gli zii (uncle), il pendio → i pendii (slope).

4. Nouns ending in -cia and -gia

Case	Plural	Examples
stressed i	-cie / -gie	farmacìa → farmacie (pharmacy), bugìa → bugie (lie)
unstressed i after a vowel	-cie / -gie	camicia → camicie (shirt), valigia → valigie (suitcase)
unstressed i after a consonant	-ce / -ge	arancia → arance (orange), spiaggia → spiagge (beach)

Practical tip: if there is a double consonant or a consonant before -cia/-gia (faccia, pioggia, provincia), the i almost always disappears: facce, piogge, province.

5. Masculine nouns in -a and nouns in -ista

• il problema → i problemi, il poeta → i poeti, il programma → i programmi;
• nouns ending in -ista have two plurals: il turista → i turisti, la turista → le turiste.

6. Invariable nouns

These do not change in the plural: only the article changes.

Type	Examples
Words stressed on the final vowel	la città → le città, il caffè → i caffè, la virtù → le virtù
Words ending in a consonant (often foreign)	il bar → i bar, lo sport → gli sport, il film → i film
Words ending in -i	la crisi → le crisi, l’analisi → le analisi
Many words ending in -ie	la serie → le serie, la specie → le specie (but: la moglie → le mogli)
Shortened words	la foto(grafia) → le foto, la moto → le moto, il cinema → i cinema
One-syllable words	il re → i re (king), la gru → le gru (crane)

7. The truly irregular plurals

• l’uomo → gli uomini (man)
• il dio → gli dei (god; note the article!)
• il bue → i buoi (ox)
• la mano → le mani (hand; feminine, even though it ends in -o)

8. Masculine in the singular, feminine in the plural

Some masculine nouns have a feminine plural in -a: l’uovo → le uova (egg), il paio → le paia (pair), il centinaio → le centinaia (about a hundred), il migliaio → le migliaia (about a thousand), il miglio → le miglia (mile).

Others, especially body parts, have two plurals with different meanings:

Singular	Plural in -a (literal)	Plural in -i (figurative)
il braccio (arm)	le braccia (of the body)	i bracci (of a lamp, of a river)
il dito (finger)	le dita (of the hand, together)	i diti (counted one by one)
l’osso (bone)	le ossa (of the skeleton)	gli ossi (taken one by one, separate from the skeleton)
il labbro (lip)	le labbra (of the mouth)	i labbri (of a wound, of a vase)
il muro (wall)	le mura (city walls)	i muri (walls of a house)

9. Same word, different gender, different meaning

• il capitale (capital, money) / la capitale (capital city)
• il fine (aim) / la fine (end)
• il fronte (war front) / la fronte (forehead)
• il radio (radium, or the radius bone) / la radio (radio)

Exercise: make these plural

1. il medico
2. l’amica
3. la valigia
4. l’uovo
5. la città
6. lo zio
7. il problema
8. l’arancia
9. l’uomo
10. il lago

Answers: 1. i medici – 2. le amiche – 3. le valigie – 4. le uova – 5. le città – 6. gli zii – 7. i problemi – 8. le arance – 9. gli uomini – 10. i laghi.

Common mistakes my students make

Over many years of teaching I’ve seen the same slips come back again and again, and that’s normal: they show us where to work. Here are the four most frequent ones, so you can spot them in your own writing.

• Adding an -i to everything: le uovi instead of le uova, or le cittài instead of le città. When a word ends in a stressed vowel, leave it alone.
• Forgetting the h: le amice or i colleghi written as i colleci. The hard sound of c and g needs an h before e and i.
• Keeping the i in -cia/-gia after a consonant: le spiaggie instead of le spiagge. Be careful, though: the dictionary sometimes accepts both forms. The Treccani entry for ciliegìa, for example, gives the plural as ciliegie or ciliege, so both are correct. For valigia and camicia, which have a vowel before the ending, stay with valigie and camicie.
• Mixing up the article: i uova or gli uova are wrong. Because uova is feminine plural, you need le uova, and every adjective follows: le uova fresche.

Two plurals, two meanings: what the dictionary says

The double plurals in section 8 are not a teacher’s invention. The Treccani dictionary entry for braccio explains that the feminine plural le braccia is used for the parts of the body and for the old unit of measurement, while i bracci is used in the other meanings (the arms of a lamp, of a cross, of a river). The same entry for uovo gives le uova as its plural. So a quick rule for the exam: the body or the measure takes -a, the object or the figurative use takes -i.

A short dialogue to read aloud

Read this mini-dialogue between two friends in a kitchen and underline every plural.

– Ciao Marta! Hai comprato le uova?
– Sì, e anche le arance e due paia di guanti. Poi ho incontrato i miei colleghi in centro.
– Ah, bene! Hai visto le amiche di Luca?
– Sì, erano al parco con i figli. Hanno detto che i laghi sono bellissimi in autunno.

Can you explain why we say le uova, i colleghi, le amiche, i laghi and due paia? Check the sections above if you are not sure.

Second exercise: choose the right plural

1. I (bracci / braccia) di mia nonna sono forti.
2. Abbiamo visitato tre (spiagge / spiaggie) bellissime.
3. Nel frigorifero ci sono sei (uovi / uova).
4. Mi piacciono i (film / films) italiani.
5. Sono andata in due (farmacie / farmace) per cercare le medicine.
6. Gli (amici / amichi) di Paolo arrivano domani.

Answers: 1. braccia – 2. spiagge – 3. uova – 4. film – 5. farmacie – 6. amici.

Questions to think about

• Which of the plurals in this article surprised you most, and why?
• Can you write three sentences about your own family using zii, figli and amiche?
• Which invariable words (caffè, film, sport) do you use every day without noticing?

Keep learning

• Gender and number of nouns in Italian
• Italian definite and indefinite articles
• Italian grammar course A1

Need a hand with grammar?

Irregular plurals are best learnt by using them in real sentences. Book a free trial lesson or check your level with the free test. If you prefer a structured path, join the course waiting list.

Sources

• Riccardo Cimaglia, “Plurale”, Enciclopedia dell’Italiano, Treccani (accessed 6 October 2026): on invariable nouns (one-syllable words, words in -ità, loanwords, words ending in a consonant) and on double plurals such as uovo → uova and braccio → braccia / bracci.
• “braccio”, Vocabolario Treccani (accessed 6 October 2026): plural le braccia for the body and as a measure, i bracci in the other meanings.
• “uovo”, Vocabolario Treccani (accessed 6 October 2026): plural le uova.
• “ciliegia”, Vocabolario Treccani (accessed 6 October 2026): plural ciliegie or ciliege.

For doubtful cases, a dictionary is still your best friend.