Italian · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 11
Due cappuccini, per favoreTwo cappuccinos, please
The Italian plural does not add anything to the end: it CHANGES the end. Cappuccino → cappuccini, pizza → pizze, stazione → stazioni. The articles follow: i caffè, gli studenti, le case. And avere completes itself: abbiamo, avete, hanno — both engines are now fully assembled. There is also the surprise chapter 8 promised: l'uomo → gli uomini. Mike orders «due cappuccinos»… and the bar corrects him with a smile.
Dialogue
i
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Due cappuccinos?— «Due cappuccinos»?
- MikeBuongiorno! Due cappuccinos, per favore!Good morning! Two «cappuccinos», please! (Mike bolts his own plural marker onto the Italian word — the slip this chapter fixes.)
- MarcoDue cappucciNI! Il plurale cambia la fine: cappuccino → cappuccini, pizza → pizze.Two cappucciNI! The plural changes the ending: cappuccino → cappuccini, pizza → pizze.
- MikeAh! Due cappuccini e due cornetti, per favore!Ah! Two cappuccinos and two cornetti, please!
- MarcoEcco! I cappuccini, i cornetti — e gli amici: Giulia è qui!Here you go! The cappuccinos, the cornetti — and the friends: Giulia is here! (i and gli — the plural articles, this chapter's other star.)
Dialogue
i
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Abbiamo gelati!— We have ice creams!
- GiuliaMarco, avete gelati?Marco, do you (all) have ice creams? (avete — asking the whole bar, not just Marco.)
- MarcoSì! Abbiamo gelati, cornetti e pizze piccole.Yes! We have ice creams, cornetti and small pizzas. (piccole — the adjective goes plural too: pizze piccole.)
- GiuliaDue gelati, per favore — per i bambini di mia sorella!Two ice creams, please — for my sister's kids! (per «for», glossed — you know it from per favore.)
- MarcoEcco due gelati! I bambini hanno i gelati — e noi abbiamo i cappuccini!Here are two ice creams! The kids have the ice creams — and we have the cappuccinos! (hanno, abbiamo — avere is now complete.)
Vocabulary
i
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- i / gli / le
art.the (plural) — i for il-words, gli for lo- and l'-masculine words, le for ALL feminine words
- il cappuccino / i cappuccini
n.m.the cappuccino / the cappuccinos (-o → -i)
- il cornetto / i cornetti
n.m.the cornetto, Italian breakfast croissant (-o → -i)
- gli spaghetti
n.m.spaghetti — an Italian word you knew before the course; born plural, with gli
- l'uomo / gli uomini
n.m.the man / the men — the promised irregular: the whole word changes
- abbiamo
verbwe have
- avete
verbyou (all) have — also the shop-counter question: Avete…?
- hanno
verbthey have (silent h again: hanno sounds «anno» — the spelling tells the verb from l'anno «the year»)
Grammar
i
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The plural: change the ending, add nothing
Explanation
Three lines do almost all of the Italian plural: -o becomes -i (cappuccino → cappuccini, ragazzo → ragazzi); -a becomes -e (pizza → pizze, casa → case); -e becomes -i (stazione → stazioni, cane → cani, studente → studenti). The articles follow: il → i (i cappuccini), lo and masculine l' → gli (gli studenti, gli amici), la and feminine l' → le (le pizze, le amiche). The honest exceptions: words with a final accent NEVER change — la città → le città, il caffè → i caffè (the article does all the work); and l'uomo → gli uomini, the promised surprise. Adjectives go plural by the same three lines: pizze piccole, ragazzi alti, stazioni grandi. And avere completes itself: abbiamo, avete, hanno — with chapter 10's essere, the course's two engines are fully assembled.
Examples
- cappuccino → cappuccini · pizza → pizze · stazione → stazionithe three plural lines: -o→-i, -a→-e, -e→-i
- i ragazzi, gli studenti, le ragazzethe plural articles mirror the singular classes: il→i, lo/l'→gli, la/l'→le
- la città → le città · il caffè → i caffè · l'uomo → gli uominiaccented finals never change (the article works alone) — and the one famous full-word change
- Abbiamo due gelati; i bambini hanno le pizze.avere complete + plural agreement in one working sentence
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