In this lesson, we're going to do four variations on words you've learned, so it's part review, part new stuff. The main thing is that when you're done you'll know about singular and plural and masculine and feminine for nouns and adjectives. Wow! It's not exciting, I know, but it's necessary for using these languages properly. And when you're done, you'll have the setup for saying "hello" just about any time day or night in all three languages. Let's get started.
First we learn the plural for standard masculine nouns:
Good news for French and Spanish. To make something plural, just add an "s":
Spanish día becomes días, pronounced "dee-ahss".
French jour becomes jours, pronounced "zhoor".
What about the "s"? Not pronounced. Say jours just like jour. You didn't think "just add an s" was that easy, did you?
In Italian, it's all mucked up. Here's the short scoop for so far: If it ends in "o" in Italian, the plural ends in "i".
Italian giorno becomes giorni, pronounced "jor-nee".
Next come feminine nouns:
Good news for Spanish and French. Like before, just add an "s". Like before, don't pronounce it in French.
Spanish noche becomes noches, pronounced "no-chase".
French nuit becomes nuits, pronounced "nwee".
Italian words ending in "e" end in "i" in the plural. So...
Italian notte becomes notti, pronounced "noh-tee".
What if there's an adjective with a plural noun?
Adjectives don't just agree with masculine or feminine. They also agree for singular or plural. That means in French and Spanish you add an "s":
In Spanish, you start with "bueno" and "día". Add an "s" to each and you get:
Spanish buen día becomes buenos días (bweh-nohss dee-ahss).
Where'd the "o" in "buenos" come from? Remember, if an adjective ending in "o" comes before a noun, you drop the "o". But, when you make it plural, i.e. "buenos," it doesn't end in "o". It ends in "s". Tricky. I know. Just say "buen día" and "buenos días" a few times and you'll remember the rule, even if it doesn't make any sense.
French bon jour becomes bons jours.
Don't pronounce either "s". Just say "bohn zhoor". Easy, huh?
In Italian, you start with "buono" and "giorno". Change the "o"s to "i"s and:
Italian buon giorno becomes buoni giorni (bwoh-nee jor-nee).
Like Spanish, you start with "buono" because it's not in front of a noun yet and you only drop the "o" if it is definitively what's going to come before the noun.
And now, feminine and plural:
Goods news! Good nights works just like good days - plural form of the nouns and adjectives. In Spanish and French, it's pretty easy:
Spanish buena noche becomes buenas noches (bwehnoss no-chase).
French bonne nuit becomes bonnes nuits (bun nwee - no change in pronunciation, again).
Italian gives us one tricky point. We've already learned that at the end of Italian nouns and adjectives, "o" turns to "i" (giorno becomes giorni), and we've seen that "e" turns to "i" (notte becomes notti). However, "a" turns to... "e". The reasons involve how the Italians chose to a) mispronounce and b) misuse Latin. What you need to know for the plural, though, is this:
| -X -> | -Y |
|---|---|
| -o -> | -i |
| -e -> | -i |
| -a -> | -e |
As I said before, you've got a lot of concepts flying on around here. And they're all absent in English. We don't do the gender thing, and even where plural is concerned, it only applies to nouns. So you've got a little digesting to do. But what we're doing is absorbed as much as learned. In the next chapter, we're going to learn some common greetings and how they're formed in our three languages. You'll learn a few new words, but, thankfully, the new concepts will be cultural, not grammatical! On the grammar side, the lesson will be a review.
So, congratulations! You've made it through your second lesson now. You have learned nine words, not a lot, but a start. And you know about some pretty tricky concepts. So now it's time to get yourself a cup of coffee. Practice your Italian and get a latte or espresso. And be sure not to do the next lesson until you've had a break, had a chance to let things settle in and done a quick review.
Are you all rested and ready now? Then once it's up, you'll be ready for lesson 3. Or, if you want, you can check back on lesson 1.
multilingua.info main page - Spanish/French/Italian main page - 1st 50 words in Sp/Fr/It