{"id":9524,"date":"2015-06-25T21:43:57","date_gmt":"2015-06-25T19:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=9524"},"modified":"2015-06-25T21:43:57","modified_gmt":"2015-06-25T19:43:57","slug":"pluralise-answers-and-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/pluralise-answers-and-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Pluralise! Answers And Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Firstly, well done all of you who had a go at our Pluralise!<\/a><\/span><\/strong> quiz. In today’s article we’ll give you the correct answers together with an explanation and analysis.<\/span><\/p>\n

Singular: my grandfather had a cow and\u00a0a sheep = mio nonno aveva una mucca e una pecora
\n<\/strong>Plural: my grandfather had two cows and three sheep =\u00a0<\/span>mio nonno aveva due mucche e tre pecore<\/span>
\n<\/strong>This one is fairly straightforward. The main thing to be aware of here is that mucca<\/strong> needs an ‘h’ in the plural: mucch<\/span>e<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Singular: Lucia\u2019s daughter is one year old = la figlia di Lucia ha un anno
\n<\/strong>Plural: Lucia\u2019s daughter is two years old =\u00a0\u00a0la figlia di Lucia ha due anni<\/strong><\/span>
\nOnce again, very simple, we just substitute the masculine singular ending ‘o’ in anno<\/strong> for an ‘i’ to make the plural anni<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Singular: last night there was a cat on the roof = questa notte c\u2019era un gatto sul tetto
\n<\/strong>Plural: last night there were two cats on the roof =\u00a0questa notte c\u2019erano due gatti sul tetto<\/strong><\/span>
\nHere, c’era<\/strong> (there was) becomes c’erano<\/strong> (there were). The rest is simple: gatto<\/strong> (singular) becomes gatti<\/strong> (plural)<\/em><\/p>\n

Singular: I\u2019ve hurt my finger = mi sono fatto male al dito
\n<\/strong>Plural: I\u2019ve hurt my fingers = mi sono fatto male alle dita
\n<\/strong>This is a tricky one. Like many parts of the body<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, finger changes gender in the plural. Not only that but it also uses the typical feminine singular ‘a’ ending instead of ‘e’ as you might have expected. Hence il dito<\/strong> (the finger), le dita<\/strong> (the fingers)
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A common irregular plural is le mura<\/strong> = the town walls ( feminine plural). Above: Le Mura di Montagnana<\/strong>. Photo. (CC)<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Singular: how many apples are left? \u2026 there\u2019s only one left = quante mele ci sono rimaste? \u2026<\/strong> ce n\u2019\u00e8 rimasta una sola
\n<\/strong>Plural: how many apples are left? \u2026 there are only two left = quante mele ci sono rimaste? \u2026\u00a0\u00a0ce ne sono rimaste due sole<\/strong><\/span>
\nI know, ne<\/strong> is nasty! In fact I recommend that you take a look at this article<\/a><\/span> on the topic. Let’s analyse the above, beginning with the singular: <\/em>
\nci<\/strong> (there) becomes ce<\/strong> (there) when it precedes ne<\/strong> for purely phonetic reasons; <\/em>
\nne<\/strong> translates as ‘of it’ or ‘of them’; <\/em>
\nThen we have \u00e8<\/strong> (is), and when we put ne<\/strong> and \u00e8<\/strong> together we need to drop the e<\/strong> in ne<\/strong> and replace it with an apostrophe for the sake of alliteration. <\/em>
\nCombining the above gives us ce n’\u00e8<\/strong> (literally: there of them is)<\/em>
\nNow, in the plural we simply need to change the \u00e8<\/strong> (is) for sono<\/strong> (are) to get ce ne sono<\/strong> (literally: there of them are).<\/em>
\nTo complete the pluralisation we need to make sure that the rest of the sentence agrees in number and gender. So: rimasta<\/strong> = left (feminine singular) becomes rimaste<\/strong> = left (feminine plural) and sola<\/strong> = only (feminine singular) becomes sole<\/strong> = only (feminine plural)<\/em><\/p>\n

Singular: how many bananas were left? \u2026 there was\u00a0only one left = quante banane c\u2019erano rimaste? \u2026 ce n\u2019era rimasta una sola
\n<\/strong>Plural: how many bananas were left? \u2026 there were only two left = quante banane c’erano rimaste? \u2026<\/strong><\/span> ce n\u2019erano rimaste due sole<\/strong><\/span>
\nEasy, right? Well, maybe a bit easier if we follow the explanation above. In this case ce n’era<\/strong> (literally: there of them was) becomes ce n’erano<\/strong> (literally: there of them were)<\/em><\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Singular: I\u2019ve planted a grapevine in my garden = ho piantato una vite nel mio giardino
\n<\/strong>Plural : I\u2019ve planted six grapevines in my garden =<\/span> ho piantato sei viti nel mio<\/strong>
\nWords which end in an ‘e’ in the singular use an ‘i’ in the plural, hence: la vite<\/strong> (singular) le viti<\/strong> (plural)<\/span><\/em>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Singular: how disgusting, there’s a cockroach on the floor! = che schifo, c’\u00e8 uno scarafaggio per terra<\/strong>
\nPlural: how disgusting, there are cockroaches on the floor! =\u00a0che schifo, ci sono gli scarafaggi per terra<\/strong><\/span>
\nHere c’\u00e8<\/strong> (there is) becomes ci sono<\/strong> (there are) and uno scarafaggio<\/strong> (a cockroach) becomes gli scarafaggi<\/strong>\u00a0 (the cockroaches). The important thing to note here is that in order to sound correct we need to put the masculine plural article gli<\/strong> before <\/em>scarafagg<\/em>i<\/strong><\/p>\n

Singular: have you seen my shoe? = hai visto la mia scarpa?<\/strong>
\nPlural: have you seen my shoes? = hai visto le mie scarpe<\/strong>
\nImportant to note here is that the possessive adjective mia<\/strong> (my, feminine singular) becomes mie<\/strong> (my, feminine plural). An example of this in the masculine would be: il mio libro<\/strong> (my book, masculine singular), i miei libri<\/strong> (my books, masculine plural)<\/span><\/em>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I hope you found this little exercise useful. If you still need help please leave a comment. Alla prossima.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Firstly, well done all of you who had a go at our Pluralise! quiz. In today’s article we’ll give you the correct answers together with an explanation and analysis. Singular: my grandfather had a cow and\u00a0a sheep = mio nonno aveva una mucca e una pecora Plural: my grandfather had two cows and three sheep…<\/p>\n

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