Every noun has a gender
Every Italian noun is either masculine (il) or feminine (la) — including things: a book, a table, a house. There is no neuter. The best clue to the gender is the ending of the noun.
The basic rule: -o masculine, -a feminine
Usually masculine: -o
Usually feminine: -a
Both endings in a sentence
Il libro è nuovo.
The book is new.
La casa è grande.
The house is big.
Nouns ending in -e
Many nouns end in -e. They can be masculine or feminine; the ending alone does not tell you. Learn these words together with their article.
-e can be either
Masculine
Feminine
Two endings in -e are reliable: -ore is almost always masculine, -ione almost always feminine.
Il dottore è bravo.
The doctor is good.
La stazione è vicina.
The station is nearby.
People follow natural gender
For people, the gender follows the person. Usually there is a pair in -o (masculine) and -a (feminine). For some words in -e the ending changes too (cameriere → cameriera, dottore → dottoressa), for others only the article changes (il turista, la turista).
| Masculine | Feminine | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| il ragazzo | la ragazza | boy / girl |
| l'amico | l'amica | friend (m. / f.) |
| il cameriere | la cameriera | waiter / waitress |
| il dottore | la dottoressa | doctor (m. / f.) |
Important exceptions
A few very common words break the ending rule. Learn them together with their article.
Masculine despite -a
Many Greek-origin words ending in -ma are masculine.
Feminine despite -o
foto, moto and auto are short forms of la fotografia, la motocicletta and l'automobile: the gender follows the long word.
