bossing people around in italian (the imperative)

The imperative (not to be confused with the infinitive) is the form of the verb used to give commands or make strong requests. English has imperatives too. Compare:

You are nice. (present indicative)

Be nice. (imperative)

So basically you take the same verbs we’ve been working with all along and change their form slightly to indicate that the action in question is one you’re commanding someone to do, not one someone is actually performing.

Here is the formation in Italian:

	parlare	prendere	sentire	finire
tu	parla	prendi	senti	finisci
Lei	parli	prenda	senta	finsca
noi	parliamo	prendiamo	sentiamo	finiamo
voi	parlate	prendete	sentite	finite

Notice the noi and voi command forms are identical to the regular present tense ones you’ve learned already. So are the tu forms for all but the –are verbs.

There are no io, lui/lei or loro forms, since you can’t command yourself or people you are referring to rather than directly addressing.

Notice that for the –are verbs, the tu and Lei forms are the reverse of their regular present tense equivalents.

The noi form imperative of any verb is also the equivalent of the English “Let’s” + verb.

To make a negative command (don’t do something), simply put non before the imperative. Tu is the exception. Here use non + infinitive.

You don’t normally use subject pronouns with the imperative.

Some examples:

Paolino, parla piu’ lentamente!

Signora, parli piu’ lentamente per favore.

Ragazzi, non mangiate troppo.

Domenico, non mangiare troppo..

Irregular Imperatives

essere	avere	dire	fare	andare	stare	dare
sii	abbi	di’	fa’	va’	sta’	da’
sia	abbia	dica	faccia	vada	stia	dia
siamo	abbiamo	diciamo	facciamo	andiamo	stiamo	diamo
siate	abbiate	dite	fate	andate	state	date

saying you like something

Tony likes pizza.

In this sentence, the person doing the liking (Tony) is the subject. And the thing receiving the liking, what Tony likes (pizza) is the direct object.

Italian reverses these functions.

A Tony piace la pizza.

Literally translated, this sentence means, “Pizza is pleasing to Tony.”

Replacing Tony with a pronoun we get, “Gli piace la pizza.”

So in Italian, the thing you like (pizza) is the subject (not the direct object) and the person liking (Tony) is the indirect object (not the subject). The verb is piacere. Like all verbs, it must agree with the subject, in this case the thing doing the pleasing (i.e., in English terms, the thing liked).

When the thing liked is a verb, it stays in the infinitive (or dictionary form), just like in English. (I don’t like to sing. – Non mi piace cantare.)

Some more examples.

Mi piace il tuo telefonino.

Non ci piace ballare.

Vi piacciono i miei occhiali?

Tu mi piaci.

Full Conjugation of Irregular Verb Piacere – To Please

io piaccio

tu piaci

Lei piace

lui/lei piace

noi piacciamo

voi piacete

loro piacciono

Notice the c doubles in the io, noi and loro forms.

Tip: The easiest way to express liking something in Italian is to recast your English sentence using the verb “to be pleasing to”, then translate directly.

I like Luisa. = Luisa is pleasing to me. = Luisa mi piace. (Or “Mi piace Luisa,” a grammatically equivalent stylistic variant.)

Now you can tell people what you like in Italian! Ciao for now.

italian indirect object pronouns

Sorry for the delay in this week's grammar update - I was busy stuffing my face for Natale! But here we go.

We learned last week that direct object pronouns answer the question What? (or Whom?). Indirect object pronouns answer the questions To what?, For what?, To whom or For whom? So you can think of the indirect object as the noun for whose benefit or for the sake of which the action is undertaken. A few examples will help to clarify.

I wrote. You wrote what? A letter. To whom? To my grandmother. The grandmother is the indirect object.

I gave. You gave what? A present. To whom? To Chuck. Chuck is the indirect object this time.

Are you getting the idea? Try singling out the indirect object in these English sentences. The correct answer is given in parentheses.

I bought Jen a top. (Jen)

I showed Jen my car. (Jen)

Jen sent the doctor an email. (the doctor)

Jen sent the doctor to Frank. (Frank)

Max bought the cat for his daughter. (his daughter)

Max bought the cat a collar. (the cat)

Now that you're getting the hang of what an indirect object is, let's see how to replace one with a pronoun in Italian.

Indirect Object Pronouns in English and Italian

English	Italian
to me	mi
to you	ti
	Le (formal)
to him	gli
to her	le
to it	gli (masculine)
	le (feminine)
to us	ci
to you	vi
to them	gli (masculine or feminine)

Tricky Points

The italicized entries look the same as direct object pronouns - don't mix them up!

The 3rd person plural indirect object pronoun (gli) doesn’t distinguish between masculine and feminine. It’s “gli” regardless.

Direct and indirect object pronouns in Italian usually go immediately before the verb, bumping non back a spot in negations. Later on we’ll earn another place they can go.

Confusion can arise between the feminine plural direct object (le), and the feminine singular indirect object (and Lei form) - le.

Dove sono le chiavi? Le perdo sempre. (direct, fem., plur.)

Signora Marchesi, Le do questo telefonino. (indirect Lei form)

It is not always obvious or logical when to use a direct object (or its pronoun) or an indirect one. It’s generally considered strictly an inherent property of the verb. Some just take direct objects, some indirect, some either or depending on context and some neither. It’s going to take time and exposure. In many cases English and Italian are parallel in this regard but by no means always.

For example, both “to speak” and the Italian equivalent “parlare” take indirect objects.

I talk to him.

Gli parlo.

But “to phone” and “telefonare” are not parallel in this way.

I phone him . (looks direct)

Gli telefono. (explicitly indirect)

A high-quality dictionary is often your only recourse when uncertain when to use which.

Some Examples of Object Pronouns in Action

Tu vedi Marco? Si’, lo vedo. No, non vedo Marco. Non lo vedo.

Tu bevi la birra? Si’, la bevo spesso.

Chi da le chiavi a Marco? Io gli do le chiavi.

Quando vedo Maria, le dico che la amo.

Quando mi vede Marco, mi dice che mi ama.

Practice and soon you'll sound like a pro. Ciao for now!

italian direct object pronouns

We learned in an earlier lesson that a pronoun is a part of speech that replaces a noun (person, place or thing) mentioned previously. We also learned the personal or subject pronouns (io, tu, lei, etc.) - pronouns that replace the subject of the sentence - the person, place or thing doing the action.

But many sentences in both Italian and English not only have a subject, they also have an object - a person, place or thing receiving the action. What does it mean for a noun to receive a verb's action? Simple, the noun receiving the action is not the noun doing the verb, but the noun the verb is done to . There are two kinds of object - direct and indirect. We'll learn about indirect objects another time. Here are some examples of direct ones (italicized).

Vince is buying a shirt.

Tony is cutting Lenny’s hair.

Lorenzo is eating some chicken.

In each case, the direct object answers the question What? with regards to the verb.

Vince is buying. - Vince is buying what? - A shirt.

Lorenzo is eating. - Lorenzo is eating what? - Some chicken.

So the noun that answers the question What? about a verb is the direct object.

Now that you know what a direct object is, you're ready to learn how to replace one with a pronoun.

Direct Object Pronouns in English and Italian

English	Italian
me	mi
you	ti
	La (formal)
him	lo
her	la
it	lo (masculine)
	la (feminine)
us	ci
you (plural)	vi
them	li (masculine)
	le (feminine)

One difference between Italian and English direct object pronouns is that the Italian ones go before the verb, not after. For example:

We see her.

La vediamo.

I visit them.

Li visito.

I buy it.

Lo compro.

And that’s all there is to it!

italian modal verbs

This week's tutorino Italian grammar lesson will teach you how to say you want to, can or have to do something in Italian. And the good news is it's quite straightforward! Just memorize the following irregular verbs, known as "modals":

volere – to want (to)	potere – to be able to	dovere – to have to
io voglio	io posso	io devo
tu vuoi	tu puoi	tu devi
Lei vuole	Lei puo’	Lei deve
lui/lei vuole	lui/lei puo’	lui/lei deve
noi vogliamo	noi possiamo	noi dobbiamo
voi volete	voi potete	voi dovete
loro vogliono	loro possono	loro devono

Volere can be used with nouns and infinitives (dictionary form). Voglio una birra. Voglio mangiare.

Potere and dovere are used with infinitives only. Non posso studiare. Devo uscire.

To negate a modal (to say you don't want to, can't or must not), just put non in front of it.

You're done!

prepositions

Prepositions are a pain. They are short words that look a lot alike and are easy to mistake for each other. They each have several meanings depending on context. And their use varies from language to language. When English uses “to”, Italian might use “at”. When English uses “at”, Italian might use “from”. And so on. So learning them takes a lot of patience. There aren’t many rules I can give you to help. They are an area of any language where there are more exceptions than rules.

To start off, what are the most common prepositions?

a – at, to

da – from

di – of

in – in

su – on

con – with

per – for

Keep in mind the meanings given above are pretty loose. “Di” can also mean “from”. “Da” can also mean “by”. And so on. But this will get you started, as a beginner.

What do prepositions do? What are they used for? Their main use is to establish a relationship between a verb (action word) and a noun (person, place or thing), or between two nouns. They often help answer the question, “Where?” For example:

I’m going.

You’re going where?

I’m going to my sister’s.

Put the book.

Put the book where?

Put the book on the shelf.

I read it.

You read it where?

I read it in the paper.

So one of the main purposes of prepositions (though not the only one) is to establish a relationship of position, direction or location between a verb and a noun.

When a preposition is followed by a definite article ("the"), the two contract. Take a look at this chart.

	il	lo	l’	la	i	gli	le
a	al	allo	all’	alla	ai	agli	alle
da	dal	dallo	dall’	dalla	dai	dagli	dalle
di	del	dello	dell’	della	dei	degli	delle
in	nel	nello	nell’	nella	nei	negli	nelle
su	sul	sullo	sull’	sulla	sui	sugli	sulle

So "to the museum" = "a il museo" which contracts to become "al museo". The "a" and the "il" blend together to form a single new word.

Take some time to memorize the chart. It's an Italian essential. Then come back tomorrow for some practice. Ciao for now!

three irregular getting around verbs

These three irregular verbs really get around. They'll be useful for discussing your comings and goings in Italy. Speaking of which, come back tomorrow for some practice. Ciao!

venire – to come

io vengo
tu vieni
Lei viene
lui/lei viene
noi veniamo
voi venite
loro vengono

andare – to go

io vado
tu vai
Lei va
lui/lei va
noi andiamo
voi andate
loro vanno

uscire – to go out

io esco
tu esci
Lei esce
lui/lei esce
noi usciamo
voi uscite
loro escono

pointing words 2

As promised last week, here are the forms of "that" and its plural "those" in Italian. Remember, this is the demonstrative you use for nouns that are farther away.

Adjectives (Pointing Words to be Used With Nouns)
That/Those

	Masc.	Fem.
Sing.	quel quell’ (before vowel) quello (before gn, ps, etc.)	quella quell’ (before vowel)
Plur.	quei quegli (before vowel, gn, ps, etc.)	quelle

Does this remind you of anything? “Quello” when used as an adjective (i.e. accompanied by a noun) behaves a lot like the definite article (il, l’, lo, etc.).

Bello, when placed before the noun, follows the same pattern as quello.

Pronouns (Stand-Alone Pointing Words)
That/Those

	Masc.	Fem.
Sing.	quello	quella
Plur.	quelli	quelle

When used as a pronoun, “quello” behaves a lot like an adjective, with its o/a/i/e endings.

And that's all there is to it. Check back tomorrow for practice. Ciao for now!

pointing words 1

Some words point. In English they are "this" and its plural "these", and "that" and its plural "those". This and these point to nouns that are close to the speaker, and that and those to nouns that are farther away. The grammatical term for pointing words is "demonstratives". A demonstrative can accompany a noun, in which case it's an adjective ("this girl"), or fly solo, in which case it's a pronoun ("this one").

Italian is basically the same except there are different forms of the demonstrative depending on four factors:

1) the gender of the noun it's accompanying or replacing

2) the number of the noun (singular or plural)

3) whether the demonstrative is accompanying a noun (adjective) or flying solo - i.e. replacing a noun (pronoun)

4) in the case of demonstratives used as adjectives, the first letter of the noun the demonstrative is accompanying

The following chart lists the forms of "this" and "these" as both adjective and pronoun. Next week we'll learn "that" and "those". As usual, check back tomorrow for some practice. Ciao for now!

Adjectives (Pointing Words to be Used With Nouns)
This/These

	Masc.	Fem.
Sing.	questo quest’ (before vowel)	questa quest’ (before vowel)
Plur.	questi	queste

Pronouns (Stand-Alone Pointing Words)
This/These

	Masc.	Fem.
Sing.	questo	questa
Plur.	questi	queste

italian possessive adjectives

Possessive adjectives show ownership. In English they are my, your, his, her, its, our, your, and their. Which one you use depends mainly on two factors: 1) the relationship between the owner and the speaker and 2) the number of owners.

If the owner is the speaker, you use "my" for one owner, "our" for more than one.

If the owner is the person the speaker is speaking to, you use "your" for both singular and plural owners.

If the owner is the person the speaker is speaking about, you use "his" for a male human owner, "her" for a female human owner, "its" for a non-human owner, and "their" for plural owners.

The main Italian possessives are mio (my), tuo (your), suo (your formal, his and her), nostro (our), vostro (your plural) and loro (their). You use them the same way - mio when the owner is the speaker, tuo when the owner is the person the speaker is speaking to and so on.

In addition to these forms, the Italian possessives (like all adjectives) change slightly to reflect the gender and number of the noun they go with, in this case the thing owned (not the owner). So "mio" becomes "mia" when the thing owned is feminine, "miei" for masculine plural things owned and "mie" for feminine plural. Another difference is that Italian possessives are always introduced by the definite article. So "my book" is "il mio libro". The exception is family members in the singular. These take the possessive only with no definite article ("mio fratello"). For family members in the plural you use the article again ("i miei fratelli"). The chart below lists all the forms and when to use which. Auguri!

saying "a" in italian

As with “the”, there are different forms of the Italian for “a” depending on the gender of the noun that follows and on the vowel the noun starts with. (As with English there is no plural form of “a”.) Let’s see the forms.

Noun Starts With	Masculine	Feminine
A vowel	un	un’
Gn, ps, s + cons., z	uno	una
Any other consonant	un	una

Now you know how to say “a” in Italian! Check back tomorrow for some practice.

fare

The irregular verb "fare" means "to make" or "to do". It's also used idiomatically to ask about and discuss the weather, in the expression "farsi la doccia" ("to take a shower"), and to say what your job is. It's a very useful verb to learn so go to it!

fare – to make or do

io faccio

tu fai

Lei fa

lui/lei fa

noi facciamo

voi fate

loro fanno

regular -ire verbs

If you want to say feel, sleep, leave, clean or understand in Italian, you'll need to learn today's tutorino grammar topic, the regular -ire verbs - your last main conjugation!

Remember "conjugating" a verb means changing the ending of its dictionary form to match the person doing it. A regular verb changes in a predictable formulaic way and the formula it follows is a "conjugation".

Regular verbs conjugate according to their "infinitive" (or dictionary form) ending. So far we've seen how -are and -ere verbs conjugate. The -ire verbs for the most part are similar. Here's an example.

partire - to leave

io parto

tu parti

Lei parte

lui/lei parte

noi partiamo

voi partite

loro partono

Notice only the voi form differs from the -ere conjugation.

Now the interesting thing about -ire verbs is that a small subset of them have a slightly different conjugation. You insert "isc" just before the endings listed above in all but the noi and voi forms. Here's an example.

capire - to understand

io capisco

tu capisci

Lei capisce

lui/lei capisce

noi capiamo

voi capite

loro capiscono

Now you know why guys named Guido and Lenny always say "capeesh" in mob movies.

There's no 100% iron-clad fool-proof way to tell from the -ire verb itself whether it belongs to the -isc- subset. But a rule of thumb that seems to work in the vast overwhelming majority of cases (almost all!) is...

If the stem ends in a single consonant, it's an -isc- verb. (e.g. capire, pulire, finire, preferire)
If it ends in multiple consonants (or consonant + vowel), it's not. (e.g. sentire, partire, mentire)

Exceptions include cucire (to sew) - a single-consonant stem ending but not an -isc- verb. And garantire - a double-consonant stem ending but an -isc- verb.

Special thanks to Vic from our Monday night group class at the Second Cup for spotting this pattern!

Check back tomorrow for some practice. Ciao!

regular -ere verbs

A while back we saw how to conjugate regular verbs ending in -are. Today we'll learn the set of endings you add to regular -ere verbs. Eccoli qui, with prendere as an example.

Prendere – to take

io prendo
tu prendi
Lei prende
lui/lei prende
noi prendiamo
voi prendete
loro prendono

Notice the io, tu and noi endings are the same as the corresponding -are ones.

Memorize these endings (check back tomorrow for an exercise that will help) and soon you'll be saying things like, "Non ci credo!" - "I can't believe it!" from "credere" - "to believe", a regular -ere verb. 

to have and have not

Allora ragazzi, so far we've seen one irregular conjugation - essere - and last week we saw the regular -are verbs. We're going to continue in the verb vein this week with avere, the Italian for "to have", your second major important irregular verb. Here it is. Remember, "h" is silent in Italian.

avere - to have

io ho
tu hai
Lei ha
lui/lei ha
noi abbiamo
voi avete
loro hanno

A lot of idioms describing bodily or mental states that use "to be" in English use "avere" in Italian. Here's a list for you to memorize.

avere torto - to be wrong

avere ragione - to be right

avere i nervi - to be nervous

avere appetito - to be hungry

avere fame - to be hungry

avere sete - to be thirsty

avere sonno - to be sleepy

avere caldo - to be warm (hot)

avere freddo - to be cold

avere fretta - to be in a hurry

avere paura - to be afraid

avere bisogno di - to need, be in need of

avere voglia di - to want, to feel like

avere + number + anni - to be + number + years old*

*To ask someone’s age you say, “Quanti anni + avere?”

Never say, "Sono fame," "Sono sete," etc., translating directly from the English.

Now for practice, translate the following "I have" sentence:

I have...an amazing Italian grammar teacher!

Check back tomorrow for an exercise. Ciao for now!

-are verbs

In an earlier post we learned that verbs are playas - they get the action. We saw that verbs in the dictionary are in a pure "off the rack" form called the infinitve that must be altered to "fit the dimensions" of the person doing the verb. You don't say, "Hi, I to be Pino," you say, "I am Pino." And we learned our first irregular verb, essere (to be). We called it irregular because the way it changes doesn't follow a predictable pattern, unlike most verbs (which are called regular).

Well today we're going to learn the first of three patterns regular verbs follow when they conjugate. The pattern a verb follows is determined by its ending in the infinitive (or "dictionary form"). All Italian verbs end in either -are, -ere or -ire in the dictionary. The pattern we'll look at today is the one followed by regular verbs ending in -are. We'll take "parlare" (to speak or talk) as an example.

parlare

io parlo

tu parli

Lei parla

lui/lei parla

noi parliamo

voi parlate

loro parlano

So to conjugate a regular -are verb, you remove the -are of the infinitve and attach the ending (shown in bold) that matches the particular person doing the verb (the subject). The beauty is, this works like clockwork no matter what the regular -are verb. So by memorizing these few endings, you'll be able to express yourself in a wide array of situations. You'll be able to say you love, hate, eat, fly, dance, sing or play - all -are verbs in Italian. That's the beauty of grammar - you learn a little, and say a lot. Ciao for now!

alphabet and pronunciation

The Italian alphabet has all the same letters as the English one, except it has no j, k, w, x, or y.

The vowels (a, e, i, o, u) sound a bit different than they do in English.

The Italian “i” makes a sound like two English e’s, as in “see”, or “free”. Think of the word “pizza”, or my name “Pino” to remind you.

The Italian “u” never makes a short sound like our “u” in "butt". Nor does it ever make a “yew” sound like the English “university”. Instead it makes a long sound like the two o’s in “food” or the “u” in “dude”. Also “coupon”. Think “lupo” (wolf).

“E” in Italian sounds pretty much like our “e” in “let”. It's a short sound. “Essere” (to be).

“A” and “o” are hard to describe as there are no real equivalents in English. I’ll have to show you when we meet!

The consonants in Italian pretty much make the same sounds as the English ones except the following:

C + i or e makes a ch sound like church, e.g. “ciao”.

C + any other letter (vowel or consonant) makes a k sound, like cat, e.g. “casa”.

G + i or e makes a soft g like George. E.g. “Gino”.

G + any other letter makes a hard g sound like Gary. Think “gamba” (leg).

Gli makes the sound “lyee,” sort of like the two l’s in “billiards”. Think “aglio” (garlic).

Gn makes the sound “nya” like “onion”. Think of “lasagne” or “gnocchi” to remind you.

R is rolled.

S flanked by two vowels makes a sound like the s in “loser”. Think “leaning tower of Pisa.”

H is silent.

Sc + e or i makes a “sh” sound like ship. Sciare (to ski). Sciopero (labour strike).

If the “sc” is followed by any other letter it makes a sound like our English “skip”. So “bruschetta” is pronounced “broosketta” not “brooshetta”.

2 vowels side-by-side are usually pronounced individually. Europa (Europe). Aereo (airplane).

The word is usually stressed on the second last syllable (though there are exceptions).

Following these guidelines you should be able to spell and pronounce most words in Italian, regardless of whether you know what they mean. Practice pronunciation by reading out loud. Ciao for now!

grammatical yes-men: the adjectives

Flood some red wine onto a few peach slices dropped into a glass and celebrate: you’ve come a long way. In four weeks you’ve learned tons of vocab – from schmoozing terms to clothing to animals. You’ve learned about gender and number, how to form the plural, and how to get the right definite article. You’ve learned the subject pronouns and how to conjugate essere. Sei davvero grande! Wait till you see how much you can say once you learn the adjectives.

Adjectives are yes-men and chameleons. They’re followers rushing from one identity crisis to another. Why? Because adjectives have no gender or number of their own. Rather, posers and wannabes that they are, they pick up or mirror the gender and number of whatever noun they go with or “describe”. This is called “agreeing”. All adjectives agree with (or match the gender and number of) whichever noun they describe. As you probably guessed, they do this by changing their ending, much like nouns do.

In the dictionary, all adjectives appear in their masculine singular form. This usually ends in either -o or -e. The masculine -o ending changes to -a to agree with feminine nouns. Adjectives that end in -e have no unique feminine ending (like nouns that end in -e). They then adopt the endings shown below to agree with plural nouns.

Singular	Plural
-o	-i
-a	-e
-e	-i

The other unique thing about Italian adjectives is that most of them come after the noun they describe, unlike English ones.

So you get things like…

il capotto giallo

la cravatta gialla

il limone giallo

Keep in mind that the gender and number of nouns and adjectives agree, but not necessarily their endings.

Here are some examples to illustrate my point. In the following phrases, the genders, numbers and endings all happen to agree.

il ragazzo onesto

la ragazza onesta

i ragazzi onesti

le ragazze oneste

But in the next batch, the genders and numbers agree, but not the endings. The point is, the endings don’t have to agree (all o’s or a’s or i’s). You’re matching genders and numbers, not endings. A noun that ends in “e” in the plural won’t have the same ending as an adjective that ends in “i” in the plural, but they will both be plural, which is all that matters.

le case grandi

il ragazzo intelligente

le ragazze intelligenti

la stazione vecchia

And that’s really all there is to it. As usual, the activities should clarify any ambiguity. A domani!

how to say "the" in italian: the definite article

How you say "the" in Italian depends on three factors:

1) the gender of the noun (since "the" always goes with a noun)

2) the number of the noun

3) the letter the noun starts with

MASCULINE NOUNS

Starts With	Singular	Plural
a vowel	l’	gli
gn, ps, s+consonant, z	lo	gli
any other consonant	il	i

FEMININE NOUNS

Starts With	Singular	Plural
a vowel	l’	le
any consonant	la	le

Practice a while in the activities section - you'll get it!

forming the plural of nouns

If you've been using the flashcards, you know the Italian for "lemon", "grapefruit", "blueberry" and "watermelon". We saw last week that each of these nouns has a "grammatical gender" in Italian (masculine or feminine).

In addition to gender, nouns in both Italian and English have a property known as "number". The number of a noun is always either "singular" (one) or "plural" (more than one). The nouns above are all singular. Unless you're on a diet therefore, and only want one blueberry, you need to learn how to form the plural, today's tutorino grammar topic.

You probably know how to form the plural in English - you add "s" (or sometimes "es"). "Lemon" becomes "lemons".

In Italian it's just as easy.

Singular "o" (the masculine ending as you may recall from last week) becomes plural "i". Pompelmo becomes pompelmi.

Singular "a" (the feminine ending) becomes plural "e". Anguria becomes angurie.

Singular "e" becomes plural "i". Limone becomes limoni.

So if a noun is plural, and it ends in "e", you know right away it's feminine. But if it ends in "i", it could be a masculine noun whose singular ends in "o", or a masculine or feminine one whose singular ends in "e".

And that's about all there is to it.

It's also worth noting that nouns of foreign origin have no plural form. In other words their singular and plural forms look the same.

And occasionally you get a noun in Italian that ends in an accented vowel - like citta' (city). These stay the same in the plural too.

How easy was that!