Compound nouns have been presented and briefly discussed in another Italian grammar page of level B2. The plural form of Italian compound nouns is sometimes tricky, because it’s formation follows different rules according to the kind of words that make up the compound nouns. If fact il can be formed by verbs, adjectives, adverbs or other nouns.
The compound noun doesn’t change if:
- the second element is a verb:
belvedere
saliscendi
fuggifuggi
- the second element is an adverb:
sottosopra
posapiano
- the second element is a plural or uncountable noun:
cavatappi
lavastoviglie
appendiabiti
asciugacapelli
- the first element is a verb and the second one is a singular feminine noun:
battistrada
battiscopa
tosaerba
Compound nouns form the plural by changing the last vowel of thesecond element when:
- the name is not perceived as a compound noun by the speakers:
la ferrovia – le ferrovie
la banconota – le banconote
- the gender of the two nouns is the same:
il cavolfiore – i cavolfori
- the word is made up by an adjective and a masculine noun:
bassorilievo – bassorilievi
aeronauta – aeronauti
graduca – granduchi
- the nouns are both adjectives:
chiaroscuro – chiaroscuri
sordomuto – sordomuti
- it is given by a verb + a masculine noun or the female noun “mano”:
passaporto – passaporti
asciugamano – asciugamani
grattacielo – grattacieli
- it si given by an uncountable noun (adverb/preposition) + noun:
il soprannome – i soprannomi
il sottovaso – i sottovasi
Plural of both the nouns that compound the word:
- noun + adjective:
la cassaforte – le casseforti
- adjective + feminine noun:
la mezzaluna – le mezzelune
Plural of compound nouns in “capo-“
- When the compound noun is made up with the male noun “capo-” indicating a man who leads something, we have the plural of “capo-” and the second part doesn’t change:
il capostazione – i capistazione
- When it is a woman who leads something, the two nouns don’t change:
la capofamiglia – le capofamiglia
- When the compound noun with “capo-” indicates that the person has a more important role than other people with the same activity, in the plural it’s only the second part that changes:
il capocuoco – i capicuochi
la capocuoca – le capocuoche
(note that both “capo-” and the second noun indicate a human subject, in this case the profession “cuoco/a”)
- When the compound noun with “capo-” does not refer to someone with a special role among the rest, the plural form is given by the plural of the second word only:
il capoluogo – i capoluoghi
