The plural forms of nouns and adjectives ending in -co, -ca, -go and -ga
We form the plurals of feminine nouns and adjectives ending in -ca and -ga using the endings -che and -ghe respectively.
l'amica → le amiche; antica → antiche
the (female) friend → the (female) friends; old (singular) → old (plural)
l'alga → le alghe; lunga → lunghe
the alga → the algae; long (singular) → long (plural)
We form the plurals of masculine nouns ending in -ca and -ga using the endings -chi and -ghi respectively.
il monarca → i monarchi
the monarch → the monarchs
il collega → i colleghi
the colleague → the colleagues
We generally form the plurals of masculine nouns and adjectives ending in -co or -go in two different ways, depending on the intonation of the word:
- Shorter words, where the stress falls on the penultimate syllable, end in -chi or -ghi respectively in the plural.
il lago → i laghi; il mago → i maghi
the lake → the lakes; the wizard → the wizards
il fuoco → i fuochi; il buco → i buchi
the fire → the fires; the hole → the holes
- Longer words, where the stress falls on the third to last syllable, end in -ci or -gi respectively in the plural.
il medico → i medici; etnico → etnici
the doctor → the doctors; ethnic (singular) → ethnic (plural)
il cardiologo → i cardiologi; l'archeologo → gli archeologi
the cardiologist → the cardiologists; the archaeologist → the archaeologists
Note: there are, however, exceptions to these rules, and these include the following:
amico → amici; nemico → nemici; porco → porci; arcipelago → arcipelaghi; dialogo → dialoghi; naufrago → naufraghi; belga → belgi
friend → friends; enemy → enemies; pig → pigs; archipelago → archipelagos; dialog → dialogs; castaway → castaways; Belgian (singular) → Belgian (masculine plural)
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