The plural forms of nouns ending in -cia, -gia, -cio or -gio
The plurals of feminine nouns ending in -cia or -gia can take either of two forms:
- We keep the i in the plural when there is a vowel before the c or the g.
la camicia → le camicie
the shirt → the shirts
la valigia → le valigie
the suitcase → the suitcases
- We don't keep the i in the plural when there is a consonant before the c or the g.
la pioggia → le piogge
the rain → the rains
l'arancia → le arance
the orange → the oranges
Masculine nouns ending in -cio, -gio, -ccio or -ggio generally end in -i in the plural (removing the final -o).
il pregio → i pregi
the quality → the qualities
il riccio → i ricci
the hedgehog → the hedgehogs
il saggio → i saggi
the essay → the essays
Note: when the accent falls on the i, the latter is kept in the plural, even if it follows a consonant, in the case of feminine nouns. With masculine nouns, the i is doubled in the plural.
la sinergia → le sinergie
the synergy → the synergies
l'energia → le energie
the energy → the energies
il leggio → i leggii
the lectern → the lecterns
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