The plural of Italian nouns: 5 irregular words

Hi, everybody! I'm Luca and this video is for those amazing people who are learning Italian as a foreign language.

If you are one of them and want to speak Italian well, please consider subscribing to my channel, because on this channel I regularly publish lessons on various topics related to Italian grammar and Italian language.

That being said, in this lesson I wanted to talk about 5 objects which are referred to by very, very peculiar Italian nouns.

The first of these objects is this one.

What do we call this object in Italian?

This object is called "forbici", "le forbici". These are "delle forbici".

As you can see, here we have a single object referred to by a plural noun. I do say "le forbici". The singular form would be "forbice", "la forbice". The plural is: "le forbici".

What's odd tough? That to refer to this concrete object a plural form is used. Or at least in standard Italian. The correct form is "le forbici".

The same goes for this object.

What are these called (in Italian)? They are called "occhiali".

Again, we have a single object, yet we use a plural form. We say "gli occhiali". The singular form would be "l'occhiale". We don't use the singular, we use the plural. Even if we are talking about a single object.

In other words, to give you a concrete example, in my left hand I'm holding "degli occhiali", whereas in my right hand I'm holding "delle forbici".

Someone could say: "Luca, can't you say that in your left hand you're holding un occhiale and in your right hand you're holding una forbice?"

Yes, I mean, from a logical point of view this person would be right. But, as you know, languages are not always logical.

And, like I said, these nouns are peculiar, irregular. Because in Italian it's usually the case that, for a single concrete object, the singular form is used. If there are several concrete objects, we use the plural form.

These objects, le forbici and gli occhiali, only have a plural form. That is, in theory they also have a singular form, but in practice it shouldn't be used.

But let's go to our third object, the last of our simple objects, which you probably know. Later we will also examine 2 more objects that you probably don't know what Italian nouns are referred to by.

These are called "dei pantaloni". Specifically, these are "dei pantaloni corti".

See this strange quirk? I have a single object, but I use a plural form. The singular form would be "pantalone", "il pantalone". Plural: "i pantaloni".

Only the plural form is used. I do say "i pantaloni corti", I don't say "il pantalone corto". I say "i pantaloni corti".

Similarly, if I have the adjective "bianco", I should make it agree with the noun "pantaloni". It will be "pantaloni bianchi" (plural form).

So what's the peculiar thing, I'd even say absurd or illogical, the similarity between these three nouns, that is "forbici", "occhiali" and "pantaloni"? That they have only a plural form, which is used even when referring to a single object.

Please pay attention that "le forbici" is a (grammatically) feminine noun, namely a feminine plural noun. By contrast, "Gli occhiali" and "i pantaloni" are grammatically masculine nouns (namely masculine plural).

But let's go to the last 2 nouns, which you probably don't know. I intentionally left them last.

Alright. These are called "pinze", while these are called "tenaglie".

Again, a plural form for a single object. In my left hand I'm holding "delle pinze" and in my right hand I'm holding "delle tenaglie".

The plural form of these nouns is much more common. Some people say "la pinza", for example: "Dammi la pinza". Properly speaking, it should be "le pinze". But you can also say "la pinza".

I wanted to point this out because if you hear somebody telling you "Passami le pinze" while referring to a single object, you may be slightly puzzled. Well, in Italian this object can also be referred to with the plural.

Similarly, people usually say "le tenaglie", for instance "Passami le tenaglie", "Dammi le tenaglie". Buy you can also say "la tenaglia", e.g. "Dammi la tenaglia".

So: "pinze" or "pinza", and "tenaglie" or "tenaglia".

Frankly, when it comes to the first three objects (scissors, trousers and glasses), I suggest that you use the plural, because, if you use the singular, you will make a bad impression.

With these last two objects, that is pliers and pincers, you can also use the singular without any problem.

It's obvious that, if you use the plural form "le pinze", you will need to make the adjective agree. For example, well, let's assume that these pliers were black, right? I should use a feminine plural adjective. So "pinze nere".

By contrast, if I say "pinza", I should use the singular form of this adjective: "pinza nera".

The same applies if I say "la tenaglia": "la tenaglia nera".

If I say "le tenaglie": "le tenaglie nere".

You might hear people saying "la forbice", "il pantalone" and "l'occhiale".

Alright. "La forbice" is quite common.

"L'occhiale" is typically used only by those selling corrective or sun glasses. For instance, if you enter an optical shop, the shop assistant could tell you: "Ecco, guardi quest'occhiale".

Similarly, "il pantalone" is an option that tends to be used only by shop assistants selling clothes, selling trousers.

So these forms aren't for sure part of standard Italian. These forms are rather informal and colloquial and specific to certain fields.

Well, that's it! I hope this video helped you learn something new about Italian nouns.

Here I will add a card to another video that I suggest that you watch, if you want to speak good Italian.

That said... Good bye!

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