Formation of Italian Plural Nouns Ending in -A
Formazione del Plurale: Nomi in -A
With respect to number, Italian nouns have two forms: singolare (singular) and plurale
(plural). The singular is used to indicate a single living being or
thing, while the plural indicates two or more living beings or things.
Forming the Plural
The plural of Italian nouns is formed by changing the ending: feminine nouns in -a take the ending -e; masculine nouns in -a and nouns in -o and in -e, both masculine and feminine, take the ending -i.
Within this general scheme, however, there are many special cases. For convenience, it is customary to divide nouns into three classes according to the ending of the singular form:
nouns ending in -a
nouns ending in -o
nouns ending in -e
Formation of Italian Plural Nouns Ending in -A
il poeta—i poeti
il geometra—i geometri
la casa—le case
la strada—le strade
la pecora—le pecore
But ala (wing) and arma (weapon), which are feminine nouns, take the plural ending -i instead of e: le ali, le armi (ale and arme are obsolete plural forms).
la giornalista—le giornaliste
il suicida—i suicidi
la suicida—le suicide
il pediatra—i pediatri
la pediatra—le pediatre
il patriarca—i patriarchi
lo stratega—gli strateghi
la barca—le barche
la basilica—le basiliche
la bottega—le botteghe
Belga loses the velar sound in the masculine plural:Belgi; but keeps it in the feminine form: Belghe.
la scìa—le scìe
la bugìa—le bugìe
l'allergìa—le allergìe
la camicia—le camicie
la socia—le socie
la valigia—le valigie
la ciliegia—le ciliegie
la provincia—le province
la boccia—le bocce
la spiaggia—le spiagge
la frangia—le frange
The table below summarizes the formation of the plural for Italian nouns ending in -a:
PLURALE DEI NOMI IN -A
bambino—bambini
impiegato—impiegati
sasso—sassi
coltello—coltelli
The plural of the noun uomo is also formed with -i, but with a change in the ending: uomini. Of the few female nouns that end in -o, some remain unchanged in the plural; mano usually becomes mani; eco, which in the singular is feminine, is always masculine in the plural: gli echi.
cuoco—cuochi
fungo—funghi
albergo—alberghi
medico—medici
sindaco—sindaci
teologo—teologi
ornitologo—ornitologi
Among nouns that behave differently from the conventional pattern are:
nemico—nemici
amico—amici
greco—greci
porco—porci
Among nouns that are pronounced with the stress on the third-to-last syllable, there are many more exceptions:
carico—carichi
incarico—incarichi
abbaco—abbachi
valico—valichi
pizzico—pizzichi
strascico—strascichi
dialogo—dialoghi
catalogo—cataloghi
obbligo—obblighi
prologo—prologhi
epilogo—epiloghi
profugo—profughi
Finally, some nouns have both forms:
chirurgo—chirugi, chirurghi
farmaco—farmaci, farmachi
manico—manici, manichi
stomaco—stomaci, stomachi
sarcofago—sarcofagi, sarcofaghi
intonaco—intonaci, intonachi
pendìo—pendìi
rinvìo—rinvìi
mormorìo—mormorìi
NOTE: dìo becomes dèi in the plural.
figlio—figli
coccio—cocci
raggio—raggi
bacio—baci
giglio—gigli
NOTE: tempio becomes templi in the plural.
Some nouns that end in -io in the singular, in the plural may be confused with other plurals of the same spelling; to avoid ambiguity diacritical marks are sometimes used, such as an accent on the stressed syllable, a circumflex accent on the ending, or on the final double i:
osservatorio—osservatori, osservatòri, osservatorî, osservatorii
osservatore—osservatori, osservatóri
principio—principi, princìpi, principî, principii
principe—principi, prìncipi
arbitrio—arbitri, arbìtri, arbitrî, arbitrii
arbitro—arbitri, àrbitri
assassinio—assassini, assassinî, assassinii
assassino—assassini
omicidio—omicidi, omicidî, omicidii
omicida—omicidi
Today the tendency is to write a single i without diacritical marks: the general meaning of the sentence usually resolves any doubt.
Some nouns ending in -o, which in the singular are masculine, in the plural become feminine grammatical gender and take the ending -a:
il centinaio—le centinaia
il migliaio—le migliaia
il miglio—le miglia
il paio—le paia
l'uovo—le uova
il riso (il ridere)—le risa
The table below summarizes the formation of the plural for Italian nouns ending in -o:
PLURALE DEI NOMI IN -O
In Italian, the correct spelling of feminine plural nouns ending in -cia and -gia can be perplexing, given that the letter i can assume either a phonological or diacritical value. According to contemporary grammatical rules:
1. if the letter i is tonic (stressed), the regular plurals are formed with -cie and -gie; (farmacìa » farmacìe; bugìa » bugìe)
2. if, however, the letter i is atonic (unstressed), then:
Conversely, any plural spellings that neither conform to the current grammatical standard or are not justified according to historical etymological criterion are incorrect.
Origin of the Phenomenon
In the singular the diacritical is necessary to indicate the pronunciation of the soft C (C dolce) and the soft G (G dolce). In the plural, though, the pronunciation of either letter is palatalized before the letter e. That said, linguists are reluctant to suppress the letter i, since it sometimes has a distinctive function, in cases such as, for example, feróce (adjective) and feròcie (plural).
The current rule, in fact originated as a simplification of the previous etymological criterion, which stated that:
The rule, however, turns out to be empirically valid, because it results in a series of outcomes inconsistent with the provisions of the old etymological rule (one Italian linguist estimated that about 60 out of a total of more than 800 words were affected by two rules).
This explains why, for certain words ending in -cia and -gia, many Italian dictionaries specify two different forms, but only one pronunciation.
(List generated from the Dizionario d'ortografia e di pronunzia (DOP))
Note that the standard rule is often the only one recognized when forming the plurals of words ending in -cia and in -gia, so the plural, when formed in accordance with the etymological criterion, although correct, might be considered wrong by those who ignore the origins of the grammatical rules in force today.
The regular forms are preferred, especially in formal written Italian; reserve the etymological variants to impress your native Italian-speaking friends, as the alternate versions may not be recognized by everyone as legitimate and therefore considered ungrammatical. Often, in fact, they are not listed by all dictionaries. This is true especially for the less common variants, which are often unfamiliar to the average speaker.
A separate discussion is merited for terms ending in -uncia, such as: denuncia, pronuncia, rinuncia (derived from antique forms ending in -unzia that are obsolete in contemporary Italian), that form the regular plural with -ce, favoring both the standard rule as well as the etymological criterion, but for which some dictionaries also acknowledge forms ending in-cie, preserving the old plural form -zie.
Famous Examples of Plurals That Flaunt the Rules
Here are some well-known examples of plurals that do not follow the generally accepted rules:
However, there is valid grammatical significance in the fact that the absolute superlative is formed by adding the suffix -issimo to the stem of the masculine plural of the word:
The reason for this phenomenon is due to two strong trends in the Italian morphophonological system: one is the tendency to change the hard C (C dura) or hard G (G dura), when encountering the letter i, into a soft C (C dolce) or soft G (G dolce), treating it purely as a phonological sequence; the other is the tendency to maintain the sound unchanged as a matter of morphological consistency between the singular and plural forms of the word.
Exceptions
The following table summarizes most of the exceptions to the stated rule and recaps the information contained in Italian dictionaries.
For completeness, those words that form irregular plurals are shown, as well as those that have two forms, and those that, in old Italian had one or the other form, or both.
The first plural indicated is considered the standard according to Italian dictionaries, or that is preferable for reasons of linguistic tradition, or because it heeds the rules of grammar or because it simply prevails in contemporary usage.
(*obsolete)
Also notable also are the tonic prefixes -piteco and -ostraci:
1. Parole Piane
According to the rule, parole piane (words stressed on the next-to-last syllable) that end in -go form the plural in -ghi. However, there are a number of exceptions in which the plural primarily or exclusively ends in -gi.
(*obsolete)
2. Parole Sdrucciole
According to the rules, parole sdrucciole that end in -go form the plural using -gi, but there are a number of exceptions in which the plural primarily or exclusively ends in -ghi.
The most important exceptions are: analoghi, arcipelaghi, cataloghi, decaloghi, dialoghi, monologhi, naufraghi, obblighi, omologhi, and riepiloghi.
(*obsolete)
Also notable are the unstressed suffixes -fago, -fugo, and -logo:
Frequent Errors
There are certain Italian words ending in -co and -go in which errors are more frequent when forming the plural, and occur in both directions, i.e., 1) words that form irregular plurals but which are erroneously declinated as if the plural were a regular form; and 2) words that form regular plurals, according to the rule, but that are erroneously declinated as if they were an exception.
1. False Regular Plurals
arcipelagi (incorrect) » arcipelaghi
bolscèvici (incorrect) » bolscevìchi
cimòtrici (incorrect) » cimotrichi
lissòtrici (incorrect) » lissotrichi
menscèvici (incorrect) » menscevìchi
strascici (incorrect) » strascichi
ulòtrici (incorrect) » ulotrichi
valici (incorrect) » valichi
Forming the Plural
The plural of Italian nouns is formed by changing the ending: feminine nouns in -a take the ending -e; masculine nouns in -a and nouns in -o and in -e, both masculine and feminine, take the ending -i.
Within this general scheme, however, there are many special cases. For convenience, it is customary to divide nouns into three classes according to the ending of the singular form:
nouns ending in -a
nouns ending in -o
nouns ending in -e
Formation of Italian Plural Nouns Ending in -A
- Italian singular nouns that end in -a form the plural with -i if they are masculine, and with -e if they are feminine:
il poeta—i poeti
il geometra—i geometri
la casa—le case
la strada—le strade
la pecora—le pecore
But ala (wing) and arma (weapon), which are feminine nouns, take the plural ending -i instead of e: le ali, le armi (ale and arme are obsolete plural forms).
- Nouns ending in -ista and -cida and several others that also end in -a, that are of common gender in the singular, form regular plurals, changing the ending to -i if masculine, and to -e if feminine:
la giornalista—le giornaliste
il suicida—i suicidi
la suicida—le suicide
il pediatra—i pediatri
la pediatra—le pediatre
- Nouns ending in -ca and -ga retain the velar consonants /k/ and /g/ in the plural and therefore end in -chi and -ghi if masculine, in -che and -ghe if feminine:
il patriarca—i patriarchi
lo stratega—gli strateghi
la barca—le barche
la basilica—le basiliche
la bottega—le botteghe
Belga loses the velar sound in the masculine plural:Belgi; but keeps it in the feminine form: Belghe.
- Nouns ending in -cìa and -gìa (with a stressed i) form regular plurals with -cìe and -gìe:
la scìa—le scìe
la bugìa—le bugìe
l'allergìa—le allergìe
- Nouns ending in -cia and -gia (with an unstressed i) maintain the vowel i if the consonants c and g are preceded by a vowel; the vowel i is dropped if the consonants c and g are preceded by a consonant. Therefore, in the first case the plural endings are -cie and -gie, while in the second case the plural endings are -ce and -ge:
la camicia—le camicie
la socia—le socie
la valigia—le valigie
la ciliegia—le ciliegie
la provincia—le province
la boccia—le bocce
la spiaggia—le spiagge
la frangia—le frange
The table below summarizes the formation of the plural for Italian nouns ending in -a:
PLURALE DEI NOMI IN -A
| INGOLARE | PLURALE | |
| maschile | femminile | |
| -a | -i | -e |
| -ca, -ga | -chi, -ghi | -che, -ghe |
| -cìa, -gìa (i stressed) | -cìe, -gìe | |
| -cia, -gia (i unstressed) | -cie, -gie if c and g are preceded by a vowel | |
| -ce, -ge if c and g are preceded by a consonant |
Formation of Italian Plural Nouns Ending in -O
Formazione del Plurale: Nomi in -O
- Italian singular nouns that end in -o form the plural by changing the ending to -i:
bambino—bambini
impiegato—impiegati
sasso—sassi
coltello—coltelli
The plural of the noun uomo is also formed with -i, but with a change in the ending: uomini. Of the few female nouns that end in -o, some remain unchanged in the plural; mano usually becomes mani; eco, which in the singular is feminine, is always masculine in the plural: gli echi.
- Nouns in -co and -go do not follow a consistent behavior in forming the plural. If there is a pattern to speak of, the nouns maintain the velar consonants /k/ and /g/, and end in -chi and -ghi. However, if the nouns are sdruccioli (stressed on the third-to-last syllable of a word), instead, drop the velar consonants /k/ and /g/ and add the palatal sounds -ci and -gi:
cuoco—cuochi
fungo—funghi
albergo—alberghi
medico—medici
sindaco—sindaci
teologo—teologi
ornitologo—ornitologi
Among nouns that behave differently from the conventional pattern are:
nemico—nemici
amico—amici
greco—greci
porco—porci
Among nouns that are pronounced with the stress on the third-to-last syllable, there are many more exceptions:
carico—carichi
incarico—incarichi
abbaco—abbachi
valico—valichi
pizzico—pizzichi
strascico—strascichi
dialogo—dialoghi
catalogo—cataloghi
obbligo—obblighi
prologo—prologhi
epilogo—epiloghi
profugo—profughi
Finally, some nouns have both forms:
chirurgo—chirugi, chirurghi
farmaco—farmaci, farmachi
manico—manici, manichi
stomaco—stomaci, stomachi
sarcofago—sarcofagi, sarcofaghi
intonaco—intonaci, intonachi
- Nouns ending in -ìo (with a stressed i) form regular plurals ending in -ìi:
pendìo—pendìi
rinvìo—rinvìi
mormorìo—mormorìi
NOTE: dìo becomes dèi in the plural.
- Nouns ending in -ìo (with an unstressed i) lose the i of the stem in the plural, therefore ending in -i:
figlio—figli
coccio—cocci
raggio—raggi
bacio—baci
giglio—gigli
NOTE: tempio becomes templi in the plural.
Some nouns that end in -io in the singular, in the plural may be confused with other plurals of the same spelling; to avoid ambiguity diacritical marks are sometimes used, such as an accent on the stressed syllable, a circumflex accent on the ending, or on the final double i:
osservatorio—osservatori, osservatòri, osservatorî, osservatorii
osservatore—osservatori, osservatóri
principio—principi, princìpi, principî, principii
principe—principi, prìncipi
arbitrio—arbitri, arbìtri, arbitrî, arbitrii
arbitro—arbitri, àrbitri
assassinio—assassini, assassinî, assassinii
assassino—assassini
omicidio—omicidi, omicidî, omicidii
omicida—omicidi
Today the tendency is to write a single i without diacritical marks: the general meaning of the sentence usually resolves any doubt.
Some nouns ending in -o, which in the singular are masculine, in the plural become feminine grammatical gender and take the ending -a:
il centinaio—le centinaia
il migliaio—le migliaia
il miglio—le miglia
il paio—le paia
l'uovo—le uova
il riso (il ridere)—le risa
The table below summarizes the formation of the plural for Italian nouns ending in -o:
PLURALE DEI NOMI IN -O
| SINGOLARE | PLURALE | |
| maschile | femminile | |
| -o | -i | -i |
| -co, -go (parole piane) | -chi, -ghi | |
| -co, -go (parole sdruccioli) | -ci, -gì | |
| -io (stressed i) | -ìi | |
| -io (unstressed i) | -i |
Formation of Italian Plural Nouns Ending in -CIA and -GIA
Formazione del Plurale: Nomi in -CIA e -GIA
In Italian, the correct spelling of feminine plural nouns ending in -cia and -gia can be perplexing, given that the letter i can assume either a phonological or diacritical value. According to contemporary grammatical rules:
1. if the letter i is tonic (stressed), the regular plurals are formed with -cie and -gie; (farmacìa » farmacìe; bugìa » bugìe)
2. if, however, the letter i is atonic (unstressed), then:
- conserve the letter i if the consonant is immediately preceded by a vowel (acacia » acacie; battigia » battigie)
- suppress the letter i if the consonant is immediately preceded by another consonant (provincia » province; spiaggia » spiagge)
Conversely, any plural spellings that neither conform to the current grammatical standard or are not justified according to historical etymological criterion are incorrect.
Origin of the Phenomenon
In the singular the diacritical is necessary to indicate the pronunciation of the soft C (C dolce) and the soft G (G dolce). In the plural, though, the pronunciation of either letter is palatalized before the letter e. That said, linguists are reluctant to suppress the letter i, since it sometimes has a distinctive function, in cases such as, for example, feróce (adjective) and feròcie (plural).
The current rule, in fact originated as a simplification of the previous etymological criterion, which stated that:
- feminine words ending in-cia and -gia would keep the letter i in the plural, even if the Latin root contained the series -ci -or -gi followed by a vowel.
The rule, however, turns out to be empirically valid, because it results in a series of outcomes inconsistent with the provisions of the old etymological rule (one Italian linguist estimated that about 60 out of a total of more than 800 words were affected by two rules).
This explains why, for certain words ending in -cia and -gia, many Italian dictionaries specify two different forms, but only one pronunciation.
| WORD | STANDARD PLURAL | ETYMOLOGICAL CRITERION | NOTES |
| bricia | -cie | -ce | 'briciola' |
| camicia | -cie | -ce | Note the potential for confusion between camìce and càmice |
| cecia | -cie | -ce | Toscanism |
| cioci | -cie | -ce | |
| fradicia (fradicio) | -cie | -ce | |
| micia (micio) | -cie | -ce | |
| pecia | -cie | -ce | |
| sbricia (sbricio) | -cie | -ce | Toscanism: 'ridotta male, povera' |
| suacia | -cie | -ce | |
| sudicia (sudicio) | -cie | -ce | |
| trucia | -cie | -ce | Toscanism: 'misera, logora, sporca' |
| conscia (conscio) | -ce | -cie | |
| inconscia (inconscio) | -ce | -cie | |
| inscia (inscio) | -ce | -cie | 'ignara' |
| nescia (nescio) | -ce | -cie | 'ignara' |
| provincia | -ce | -cie | |
| sescuncia | -ce | -cie | |
| acquaragia | -gie | -ge | |
| accomandigia | -gie | -ge | |
| alterigia | -gie | -ge | |
| balogia (balogio) | -gie | -ge | Toscanism: 'fiacca, melensa' |
| bambagia | -gie | -ge | |
| barbogia (barbogio) | -gie | -ge | 'vecchia, rimbambita' |
| battigia | -gie | -ge* | |
| bigia (bigio) | -gie | -ge | 'grigia' |
| bragia | -gie | -ge | 'brace' |
| bùgia (bugio) | -gie | -ge | 'cava, bucata, vuota' |
| calbigia | -gie | -ge | |
| calderugia | -gie | -ge | |
| callipigia | -gie | -ge | |
| ciliegia | -gie | -ge | |
| cinigia | -gie | -ge | 'cenere, brace' |
| contigia | -gie | -ge | |
| cupidigia | -gie | -ge | |
| franchigia | -gie | -ge | |
| frogia | -gie | -ge | |
| grandigia | -gie | -ge | 'pomposità, superbia' |
| grattapugia | -gie | -ge | |
| grattugia | -gie | -ge | |
| grigia (grigio) | -gie | -ge | |
| guarentigia | -gie | -ge | |
| ingordigia | -gie | -ge | |
| ligia (ligio) | -gie | -ge | |
| maligia | -gie | -ge | type of onion |
| malvagia (malvagio) | -gie | -ge | |
| mattugia (mattugio) | -gie | -ge | used to describe small birds |
| minugia (minugio) | -gie | -ge | 'intestina, interiora' |
| mogia (mogio) | -gie | -ge | |
| raccomandigia | -gie | -ge | |
| ragia | -gie | -ge | |
| randagia (randagio) | -gie | -ge | |
| -spongia | -ge | -gie | suffix which means "sponge" |
| capetingia (capetingio) | -ge | -gie | Capetian |
| dalbergia | -ge | -gie | |
| merovingia (merovingio) | -ge | -gie | Merovingian |
| orgia | -ge | -gie |
Note that the standard rule is often the only one recognized when forming the plurals of words ending in -cia and in -gia, so the plural, when formed in accordance with the etymological criterion, although correct, might be considered wrong by those who ignore the origins of the grammatical rules in force today.
The regular forms are preferred, especially in formal written Italian; reserve the etymological variants to impress your native Italian-speaking friends, as the alternate versions may not be recognized by everyone as legitimate and therefore considered ungrammatical. Often, in fact, they are not listed by all dictionaries. This is true especially for the less common variants, which are often unfamiliar to the average speaker.
A separate discussion is merited for terms ending in -uncia, such as: denuncia, pronuncia, rinuncia (derived from antique forms ending in -unzia that are obsolete in contemporary Italian), that form the regular plural with -ce, favoring both the standard rule as well as the etymological criterion, but for which some dictionaries also acknowledge forms ending in-cie, preserving the old plural form -zie.
Famous Examples of Plurals That Flaunt the Rules
Here are some well-known examples of plurals that do not follow the generally accepted rules:
- The plural ciliege was used by Oriana Fallaci in the title of her posthumous book: Un cappello pieno di ciliege.
- The plural provincie is used in Title V of the original text of the Italian Constitution Le Regioni, le Provincie, i Comuni, and in the text of the same; as well as in the name of the Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde.
Formation of Italian Plural Nouns Ending in -CO and -GO
Formazione del Plurale: Nomi in -CO e -GO
In Italian grammar, forming the plurals of words (nouns and adjectives) ending in-co and -go can be a particularly vexing challenge. Masculine plurals oscillate, for historical reasons, between forms ending in -ci and -chi and in -gi and -ghi. The following rule of thumb, though, should suffice:
- if the word is stressed on the third-to-last syllable, the plural is usually formed with -ci and -gi;
However, there is valid grammatical significance in the fact that the absolute superlative is formed by adding the suffix -issimo to the stem of the masculine plural of the word:
- amico » amic-i: amic-issimo, amic-issimi, amic-issima, amic-issime
- antico » antich-i: antich-issimo, antich-issimi, antich-issima, antich-issime.
The reason for this phenomenon is due to two strong trends in the Italian morphophonological system: one is the tendency to change the hard C (C dura) or hard G (G dura), when encountering the letter i, into a soft C (C dolce) or soft G (G dolce), treating it purely as a phonological sequence; the other is the tendency to maintain the sound unchanged as a matter of morphological consistency between the singular and plural forms of the word.
Exceptions
The following table summarizes most of the exceptions to the stated rule and recaps the information contained in Italian dictionaries.
For completeness, those words that form irregular plurals are shown, as well as those that have two forms, and those that, in old Italian had one or the other form, or both.
The first plural indicated is considered the standard according to Italian dictionaries, or that is preferable for reasons of linguistic tradition, or because it heeds the rules of grammar or because it simply prevails in contemporary usage.
WORDS ENDING IN -CO
1. Parole Piane
As a rule of thumb, parole piane (words stressed on the next-to-last syllable) that end in -co form the plural in -chi.
(*obsolete)
It should be noted that loci is not the plural of loco (the plural of which is lochi), but of locus (a term used in the field of genetics).
2. Parole Sdrucciole
1. Parole Piane
As a rule of thumb, parole piane (words stressed on the next-to-last syllable) that end in -co form the plural in -chi.
However, there are a number of exceptions in which the ending -ci is used to form the plural with parole piane.
The most important exceptions are: amici, nemici, greci, and porci.| WORD | STANDARD PLURAL | ALTERNATE PLURAL | NOTES |
| amico | -ci | ||
| càuco | -ci | -chi | |
| dàuco | -ci | ||
| eurieco | -ci | ||
| falisco | -ci | ||
| greco | -ci | -chi |
| the form grechi is used as an adjective only when referring to the wines (vini) and the winds (venti) of Greece | |||
| grico | -chi | -ci | from the grecanico salentino dialect |
| inimico | -ci | ||
| isarco | -ci | ||
| laico | -ci | ||
| leuco | -ci | ||
| meteco | -ci | -chi | |
| nemico | -ci | ||
| perieco | -ci | ||
| porco | -ci | ||
| proco | -ci | -chi* | |
| regaleco | -ci | ||
| volsco | -ci | ||
| osco | -ci | -chi | |
| petulco | -ci | -chi | |
| aprico | -chi | -ci | poetic term |
| -piteco | -chi | -ci | suffix which means "ape" |
| caduco | -chi | -ci* | |
| lombrico | -chi | -ci* | |
| mendico | -chi | -ci* | |
| opaco | -chi | -ci* | |
| vinco | -chi | -ci* | type of willow; chalice stem |
It should be noted that loci is not the plural of loco (the plural of which is lochi), but of locus (a term used in the field of genetics).
2. Parole Sdrucciole
According to the rules, parole sdrucciole (words stressed on the third-to-last syllable) that end in -co form the plural using -ci, but there are a number of exceptions in which the plural mainly or exclusively ends in -chi.The most important exceptions are: abachi, carichi, incarichi, strascichi, and valichi.
| WORD | STANDARD PLURAL | ALTERNATE PLURAL | NOTES |
| abaco | -chi | ||
| anfibraco | -chi | ||
| anfitrico | -chi | ||
| basilico | -chi | basilici is the regular plural form of the adjective basìlico, meaning "royal, of the king" |
| bilico | -chi | -ci | |
| bostrico | -chi | ||
| bruzzico | -chi | Tuscanism for "the first light of day" | |
| buzzico | -chi | ||
| carico | -chi | ||
| cimotrico | -chi | the plural cimotrici is widely used but incorrect | |
| coledoco | -chi | ||
| diadoco | -chi | ||
| dimentico | -chi | 'di poca memoria' | |
| diplodoco | -chi |
| discarico | -chi | ||
| entroco | -chi | ||
| epimaco | -chi | ||
| epitoco | -chi | ||
| farnetico | -chi | -ci | farnetici is used only as an adjective |
| fondaco | -chi | -ci | |
| frenetico | -chi | frenetici is used only as an adjective | |
| friccico | -chi | Romanism: 'piccola quantità; fremito' | |
| iconomaco | -chi | ||
| incarico | -chi | ||
| indaco | -chi | ||
| ipotrico | -chi | ||
| lastrico | -chi | -ci | |
| lissotrico | -chi | the plural lissotrici is widely used but incorrect | |
| lofotrico | -chi | ||
| moltiplico | -chi | 'moltiplicatore' | |
| monarcomaco | -chi | ||
| mozzico | -chi | regionalism | |
| ostatico | -chi | 'ostaggio' | |
| oligotrico | -chi | ||
| olotrico | -chi | ||
| otomaco | -chi | ||
| pentabraco | -chi | ||
| pizzico | -chi | ||
| politrico | -chi | ||
| potamotoco | -chi | ||
| rammarico | -chi | ||
| rancico | -chi | regionalism | |
| reincarico | -chi | ||
| ricarico | -chi | ||
| rimastico | -chi | 'ruminazione' | |
| risico | -chi | Tuscanism: 'rischio' | |
| scarico | -chi | ||
| solletico | -chi | ||
| spizzico | -chi | ||
| spiluzzico | -chi | ||
| sporotrico | -chi | ||
| strascico | -chi | the plural strascici is widely used but incorrect | |
| talassotoco | -chi | ||
| totonaco | -chi | ||
| tribraco | -chi | ||
| ulotrico | -chi | the plural ulotrici is widely used but incorrect | |
| uraco | -chi | ||
| valico | -chi | the plural valici is widely used but incorrect | |
| alessifarmaco | -ci | -chi | 'antidoto' |
| bolscèvico | -ci | -chi | the correct pronunciation is bolscevìco/chi |
| cerusico | -ci | -chi | |
| farmaco | -ci | -chi | |
| manico | -ci | -chi | |
| menscèvico | -ci | -chi | the correct pronunciation is menscevìco/chi |
| -ostraco | -ci | -chi | prefix which means "shell, husk, shield" |
| oziaco | -ci | -chi | |
| parroco | -ci | -chi | |
| pratico | -ci | -chi | refers to a "persona con esperienza" |
| stomaco | -ci | -chi | |
| intonaco | -ci | -chi | |
| autentico | -ci | -chi* | |
| estrinseco | -ci | -chi* | |
| intrinseco | -ci | -chi* | |
| monaco | -ci | -chi* | |
| portico | -ci | -chi* | |
| reciproco | -ci | -chi* | |
| sindaco | -ci | -chi* | |
| traffico | -ci | -chi* |
Also notable also are the tonic prefixes -piteco and -ostraci:
- -pitèco is used in the formation of many names of primates (australopiteco, cercopiteco), which mainly form the plural in -chi; equally acceptable is the plural form -ci, although it is less widespread.
- -ostraci is used in the formation of many names of types of arthropods and fish fossils to indicate the presence of bones; they form the plural mainly in -ci in parole sdrucciole, but, in a smaller number of instances also in -chi; that form is not recommended, though.
1. Parole Piane
According to the rule, parole piane (words stressed on the next-to-last syllable) that end in -go form the plural in -ghi. However, there are a number of exceptions in which the plural primarily or exclusively ends in -gi.
| WORD | STANDARD PLURAL | ALTERNATE PLURAL | NOTES |
| caprimulgo | -gi | ||
| fago | -gi | ||
| pago | -gi | ||
| rachimburgo | -gi | ||
| steatopìgo | -gi | may also be pronounced steatòpigi | |
| chirurgo | -ghi | -gi | |
| demiurgo | -ghi | -gi | |
| liturgo | -ghi | -gi | |
| mago | -ghi | -gi* | the term magi is used only when referring to the re magi |
| metallurgo | -ghi | -gi | |
| onomaturgo | -ghi | -gi | |
| taumaturgo | -ghi | -gi | |
| teurgo | -ghi | -gi | |
| drammaturgo | -ghi | -gi* |
2. Parole Sdrucciole
According to the rules, parole sdrucciole that end in -go form the plural using -gi, but there are a number of exceptions in which the plural primarily or exclusively ends in -ghi.
The most important exceptions are: analoghi, arcipelaghi, cataloghi, decaloghi, dialoghi, monologhi, naufraghi, obblighi, omologhi, and riepiloghi.
| WORD | STANDARD PLURAL | ALTERNATE PLURAL | NOTES |
| ammotrago | -ghi | ||
| analogo | -ghi | ||
| antitrago | -ghi | ||
| apologo | -ghi | ||
| arcipelago | -ghi | ||
| Areòpago | -ghi | may also be pronounced Areopàghi | |
| autologo | -ghi | ||
| brachilago | -ghi | ||
| catalogo | -ghi | ||
| decalogo | -ghi | ||
| dendrolago | -ghi | ||
| dialogo | -ghi | ||
| eleotrago | -ghi | ||
| emitrago | -ghi | ||
| epilogo | -ghi | ||
| eterologo | -ghi | ||
| fedifrago | -ghi | ||
| -fugo | -ghi | suffix which means "escape" | |
| giambelego | -ghi | -gi | |
| girovago | -ghi | ||
| ippotrago | -ghi | ||
| limnotrago | -ghi | ||
| lucivago | -ghi | 'di pianta che cresce meglio alla luce' (eliofilo) | |
| melologo | -ghi | ||
| monologo | -ghi | ||
| multivago | -ghi | 'che vaga per molti luoghi' | |
| nàufrago | -ghi | naufràgi is the plural of naufràgio | |
| neotrago | -ghi | ||
| nottivago | -ghi | 'nottambulo' | |
| obbligo | -ghi | ||
| ombrivago | -ghi | 'pianta che cresce meglio all'ombra' (scialfilo) | |
| omologo | -ghi | ||
| ondivago | -ghi | 'incerto, dubbioso; che vaga sulle onde' | |
| oreotrago | -ghi | ||
| ortologo | -ghi | ||
| parago | -ghi | ||
| paralogo | -ghi | ||
| pediotrago | -ghi | ||
| pelago | -ghi | 'mare' | |
| pròdigo | -ghi | prodìgi is the plural of prodìgio | |
| prologo | -ghi | ||
| riepilogo | -ghi | ||
| rincotrago | -ghi | ||
| sacrìlego | -ghi | sacrilègi is the plural of sacrilègio | |
| sarago | -ghi | -gi | |
| solivago | -ghi | 'che vaga da solo' | |
| sortìlego | -ghi | -gi* | sortilègi is the plural of sortilègio |
| taurotrago | -ghi | ||
| elego | -gi | -ghi | |
| esofago | -gi | -ghi | |
| sarcofago | -gi | -ghi | |
| teùrgo | -gi | -ghi | |
| -fago | -gi | -ghi | suffix which means "that eats" |
| -logo | -gi | -ghi | suffix which means "that treats, that pertains" |
| -pago | -gi | -ghi | suffix which means "united, connected" |
Also notable are the unstressed suffixes -fago, -fugo, and -logo:
- -fugo is used in the formation of certain adjectives which form the plural only in -ghi, even though the words are stressed on the third-to-last syllable.
- -fago is used in the formation of many adjectives that are also used nominally, and form the regular plural in -gi given that they are parole sdrucciole (some frequently used terms, however, use the ending -ghi).
- -logo is used in the formation of two variants of numerous parole sdrucciole: 1) adjectives and nouns that indicate things, which form the plural only in -ghi (omologhi, monologhi); and 2) the names of professions which form the plural mainly in -gi, but also in -ghi, however with a more vernacular connotation.
- words ending in -logo and in -fago that designate objects form the plural in -ghi,
- while those that designate people form the plural in -gi.
Frequent Errors
There are certain Italian words ending in -co and -go in which errors are more frequent when forming the plural, and occur in both directions, i.e., 1) words that form irregular plurals but which are erroneously declinated as if the plural were a regular form; and 2) words that form regular plurals, according to the rule, but that are erroneously declinated as if they were an exception.
1. False Regular Plurals
arcipelagi (incorrect) » arcipelaghi
bolscèvici (incorrect) » bolscevìchi
cimòtrici (incorrect) » cimotrichi
lissòtrici (incorrect) » lissotrichi
menscèvici (incorrect) » menscevìchi
strascici (incorrect) » strascichi
ulòtrici (incorrect) » ulotrichi
valici (incorrect) » valichi
