In last week’s quiz on irregular nouns we asked you to translate each of the sentences in the four groups below by adding the definite or indefinite article (il, i, lo, gli, la, or le, and un, uno, or una), picking the correct adjective from the box at the bottom of the page, and then pairing it with the appropriate noun.

There were certainly a few tricky ones here. For Serena and myself, an interesting outcome of this particular exercise is that it has highlighted the difficulty of knowing where to place the adjective: before or after the noun. So we’ll be posting an article on this in the near future.

Now, let’s find out how you got on.

Group A. Masculine words ending in ‘a‘ in the singular, and ‘i‘ in the plural:
1. poeta = poet
the famous poet = il famoso poeta

2. profeta = prophet
the biblical prophets = i profeti biblici

3. papa = pope
the pope is Argentinian = il papa è argentino

4. eremita = hermit
the hermit is very old = l’eremita è molto vecchio

This group also contains a series of words ending in ‘ma‘ in the singular, and ‘mi‘ in the plural, e.g.:

5. problema = problem
a complicated problem = un problema complicato

6. tema = theme
an interesting theme = un tema interessante

7. programma = program
the television programs = i programmi televisivi

Group B. Words ending in ‘ista‘ which describe professions. In the singular these always end in ‘a‘, regardless of the gender of the person described. They become regular in the plural, e.g.:

Sopra: L’autista è stanco!

il/la dentista = the dentist; masculine plural: i dentisti; feminine plural: le dentiste

8. elettricista = electrician
the clever electrician (male) = il bravo elettricista

9. farmacista = chemist
the young chemist (female) = la giovane farmacista

10. autista = driver
the drivers are tired (male) = gli autisti sono stanchi

Group C. Feminine words ending in ‘o‘ which do not change in the plural, e.g.:

la moto = the motorbike; masculine plural: le moto = the motorbikes

11. auto = car
the sport cars = le auto sportive

12. foto = photo
an old photos = una vecchia foto

13. radio = radio
the portable radios = le radio portatili

Group D. Amongst the nouns which do not change their ending in the plural form are:
Words ending with an accent, such as:

14. città (feminine) = city/town
Venice and Florence are really beautiful cities = Venezia e Firenze sono città bellissime

15. caffè (masculine) = coffee
here are your coffees = ecco i vostri caffè

16. virtù (feminine) = virtue/merit
Laura has many merits = Laura ha molte virtù

Foreign words, such as:

17. computer (masculine) = computer
the new computers are more powerful = i nuovi computer sono più potenti

18. monitor (masculine) = monitor
the flat monitors = i monitor piatti

19. boa (masculine) = boa
the boas are very long = i boa sono lunghissimi

20. lama (masculine) = lama
the Peruvian lamas = i lama peruviani

… and finally, a very tricky one that doesn’t fit into any of the above categories!

21. mano = hand N.B.: la mano = the hand (feminine) becomes le mani in the plural
my hands are clean = le mie mani sono pulite

biblico = biblical interessante = interesting sportivo = sport giovane = young molto vecchio = very old piatto = flat bellissimo = really beautiful peruviano = Peruvian famoso = famous lunghissimo = very long mio = my

argentino = Argentinian complicato = complicated bravo = clever portatile = portable vostro = your vecchio = old nuovo = new stanco = tired più potente = more powerful molto = many televisivo = television pulito = clean