FROM ielanguages.com
NOUNS: GENDER & NUMBER
There are two genders of nouns in both languages, masculine and feminine, and two numbers, singular and plural. Adjectives agree in gender and number with nouns, so you must learn the gender with each noun in order to form grammatically correct phrases. Usually the last letter of the noun will tell you which gender it is.
Gender
In French, masculine singular nouns generally end with a consonant, - age or -ment. Feminine singular nouns generally end with -ure, -sion, -tion, -ence, -ance, -té, and -ette.
In Italian, masculine singular nouns generally end with -o or -ore. Feminine singular nouns generally end with -a or -zione. Nouns ending with -e and -ista can be either gender, so you must learn those individually. A few masculine nouns end with -a: il problema, il tema, il teorema, il poeta, il cinema, il programma; and a few feminine nouns end with -o: la mano, la radio, la foto, la moto.
In French, masculine singular nouns generally end with a consonant, - age or -ment. Feminine singular nouns generally end with -ure, -sion, -tion, -ence, -ance, -té, and -ette.
In Italian, masculine singular nouns generally end with -o or -ore. Feminine singular nouns generally end with -a or -zione. Nouns ending with -e and -ista can be either gender, so you must learn those individually. A few masculine nouns end with -a: il problema, il tema, il teorema, il poeta, il cinema, il programma; and a few feminine nouns end with -o: la mano, la radio, la foto, la moto.
In most cases, the gender of a noun is the same in French and Italian. But there are some cases in which the genders are reversed. (For example, names of cities and letters of the alphabet are masculine in French, but feminine in Italian.)
Masculine in French / Feminine in Italian
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Feminine in French / Masculine in Italian
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| English | French | Italian | English | French | Italian |
| air | l'air | l'aria | affair, case | l'affaire | l'affare |
| art | l'art | l'arte | tooth | la dent | il dente |
| calm | le calme | la calma | oil | l'huile | l'olio |
| number/digit | le chiffre | la cifra | limit | la limite | il limite |
| couple | le couple | la coppia | sea | la mer | il mare |
| Sunday | le dimanche | la domenica | method | la méthode | il metodo |
| summer | l'été | l'estate | minute | la minute | il minuto |
| forehead | le front | la fronte | panic | la panique | il panico |
| guide | le guide | la guida | period | la période | il periodo |
| spring | le printemps | la primavera | planet | la planète | il pianeta |
| sand | le sable | la sabbia | second | la seconde | il secondo |
| evening | le soir | la sera | attempt | la tentative | il tentativo |
