Beginning Italian - Practice With Gender (Unit I)

Front 1

All Italian nouns are either ______ or _____ .

Back 1

Masculine or Feminine
(There is no NEUTER like in German)

Front 2

The most common three SINGULAR noun endings are -___, -___, and -___.

Back 2

-o (masculine), -a (feminine), -e (both)

Front 3

What does L'UOMO (m) mean?

Back 3

The man (m)

Front 4

What does IL FRATELLO (m) mean?

Back 4

The brother (m)

Front 5

What does IL POMERIGGIO (m) mean?

Back 5

The afternoon (m)

Front 6

What does IL TRENO (m) mean?

Back 6

The train (m)

Front 7

What does LA DONNA (f) mean?

Back 7

The woman (f)

Front 8

What does LA SORELLA (f) mean?

Back 8

The sister (f)

Front 9

What does LA SERA (f) mean?

Back 9

The evening (f)

Front 10

What does LA BICICLETTA (f) mean?

Back 10

The bicycle (f)

Front 11

Which of the three most common singular noun endings (-o, -a, -e) can be either masculine or feminine?

Back 11

-e

Front 12

What does IL PADRE (m) mean?

Back 12

The father (m)

Front 13

What does IL RISTORANTE (m) mean?

Back 13

The restaurant (m)

Front 14

What does IL SALE (m) mean?

Back 14

The salt (m)

Front 15

What does IL COGNOME (m) mean?

Back 15

The surname (m)

Front 16

What does LA MADRE (f) mean?

Back 16

The mother (f)

Front 17

What does LA NOTTE (f) mean?

Back 17

The night (f)

Front 18

What does LA LUCE (f) mean?

Back 18

The light (f)

Front 19

What does LA CHIAVE (f) mean?

Back 19

The key (f)

Front 20

The endings -sione and -zione are generally what: masculine or feminine?

Back 20

Feminine

Front 21

What does LA TELEVISIONE (f) mean?

Back 21

The television (f)

Front 22

What does LA PENSIONE (f) mean?

Back 22

The pension (f)

Front 23

What does LA PRODUZIONE (f) mean?

Back 23

The production (f)

Front 24

What does LA STAZIONE (f) mean?

Back 24

The station (f)

Front 25

Important Note :: Sometimes, nouns (frequently ending in -e) take the gender of the referent. For example, a woman who sings would be LA CANTANTE, but a man who sings would be IL CANTANTE. The noun remains the same, but the definite article (il/la) changes to match the referent.

Back 25

Il Cantante (m) - singer (m)
La Cantante (f) - singer (f)

IL/LA CLIENTE - Customer (m/f)
IL/LA PARENTE - Relative (m/f)
L'INGLESE - Englishman/Englishwoman (applies to many nationality nouns**)

Front 26

Important Note :: Sometimes, nouns ending in -a will change the gender of the definite article (IL/LA = the) to match the person or thing it refers to.

Back 26

IL/LA COLLEGA - Colleague (m/f)
L'ATLETA - Athlete (m/f)
IL/LA BATTERISTA - Drummer (m/f)
IL/LA PIANISTA - Pianist (m/f)

**EXCEPTION** LA PERSONA (f; The Person) and LA GUIDA (f; Tour Guide) are always feminine, even if they are a man.
The feminine of IL POETA (the poet) is LA POETESSA.

Front 27

What does IL CLIENTE mean, and what is the gender?

Back 27

The customer, masculine (the definite article is the masculine IL)

Front 28

What does LA CLIENTE mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 28

The customer, feminine (the definite article the feminine LA)

Front 29

What does IL CANTANTE mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 29

The singer, masculine (the definite article is the masculine IL)

Front 30

What does LA CANTANTE mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 30

The singer, feminine (the definite article is the feminine LA)

Front 31

What does IL PARENTE mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 31

The relative, masculine (the definite article is the masculine IL)

Front 32

What does LA PARENTE mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 32

The relative, feminine (the definite article is the feminine LA)

Front 33

What does L'INGLESE mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 33

The Englishman / The Englishwoman, masculine or feminine. (This article can be either LO, which is masculine, or LA, which is feminine; because the articles end with a vowel and the noun starts with a vowel, an apostrophe contracts the two. This is why context must be used to determine the gender of the person coming from England.)

Front 34

What does IL COLLEGA mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 34

The colleague, masculine (the definite article is the masculine IL)

Front 35

What does L'ATLETA mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 35

The Athlete, masculine or feminine. (This article can be either LO, which is masculine, or LA, which is feminine; because the articles end with a vowel and the noun starts with a vowel, an apostrophe contracts the two. This is why context must be used to determine the gender of the athlete.)

Front 36

What does IL BATTERISTA mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 36

The drummer, masculine (the definite article is the masculine IL)

Front 37

What does LA BATTERISTA mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 37

The drummer, feminine (the definite article is the feminine LA)

Front 38

What does IL PIANISTA mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 38

The pianist, masculine (the definite article is the masculine IL)

Front 39

What does LA PIANISTA mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 39

The pianist, feminine (the definite article is the feminine LA)

Front 40

What does LA PERSONA mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 40

The person. The noun is always feminine even though it may refer to a man or a woman. This is considered an exception that must be memorized.

Front 41

What does LA GUIDA mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 41

The tour guide. The noun is feminine although it may refer to a man or a woman. This is an exception that must be memorized.

Front 42

Important Note :: There are some nouns ending in -a that are masculine and some nouns ending in -o that are feminine. These are generally resulting from abbreviated forms of words that kept the original gender.

Back 42

Examples:
IL CINEMA (m) - The cinema
IL PAPA (m) - The dad
IL PROBLEMA (m) - The problem
L'AUTO (f) - The car
LA FOTO (f) - The photo
LA MANO - The hand

Front 43

What does IL CINEMA mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 43

The cinema, masculine (pay attention to the definite article IL, and do not be confused by the -a at the end)

Front 44

What does IL PAPA mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 44

The dad, masculine (pay attention to the definite article IL, and do not be confused by the -a at the end)

Front 45

What does IL PROBLEMA mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 45

The problem, masculine (pay attention to the definite article IL, and do not be confused by the -a at the end)

Front 46

What does L'AUTO mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 46

The car, feminine (do not be confused by the -o at the end; remember that the L' is the contracted form of LA in this case)

Front 47

What does LA FOTO mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 47

The photo, feminine (pay attention to the definite article LA, and do not be confused by the -o at the end)

Front 48

What does LA MANO mean, and what is the gender? How do you know?

Back 48

The hand, feminine (pay attention to the definite article LA, and do not be confused by the -o at the end)

Front 49

Important Note :: Some nouns end in -i. Most of these are feminine.

Back 49

L'ANALISI - The analysis (f)
L'IPOTESI - The hypothesis (f)
LA CRISI - The crisis (f)

** EXCEPTIONS **
L'ALIBI - The alibi (m)
LO SCI - The ski (m)

Front 50

Important Note :: Foreign words, unless specifically referring to a female, generally are masculine.

Back 50

IL BAR - The bar (m)
IL CAMION - The lorry (m)
IL ROCK - Rock (m)
L'HOSTESS - Stewardess (f)

Front 51

Important Note :: All months and days are masculine with one exception...

Back 51

LA DOMENICA (f) - Sunday

Front 52

Important Note :: All towns and cities are feminine with one exception...

Back 52

IL CAIRO (m) - Cairo

Front 53

Important Note :: All language names are masculine.

Back 53

There are no exceptions.

Front 54

Important Note :: Countries are usually feminine when ending in -a and masculine when ending in any other letter.

Back 54

LA FRANCIA - France
LA SPAGNA - Spain
IL BELGIO - Belgium
IL PARAGUAY - Paraguay

Front 55

What does LA FRANCIA mean?

Back 55

France

Front 56

What does LA SPAGNA mean?

Back 56

Spain

Front 57

What does IL BELGIO mean?

Back 57

Belgium

Front 58

What does IL PARAGUAY mean?

Back 58

Paraguay