A theoretical and practical Italian grammar - National Library of ...

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22 FORMATION OF THE PLURAL OF NOUNS.
EXCEPTIONS.
47. 1st, Feminine nouns wLich end in a form the plural by
changing a into e. Ex,
La casa, the house, i Le
La sposa, the wife, I Le
case.
spose.
48. 2d, Nouns ending in i or ie, monosyllables, and those
ending in an accented vowel, are invariable. Ex.
La metropoli, the metropolis,
La specie, the species,
II re, the king,
La virtu, virtue,
IjC metropoli.
Le specie.
Ire.
Le virtu.
49. Adjectives form the plural in the same manner as nouns.
EXERCISE IX.*
In the Levant, it is the custom to strew flowers on the
Levante m. ^costume m. spargere {4:Q) fiore m.
bodies of the dead, and to place a bunch of flowers in the
corpo m. moi'to m. p. 2^^^^^^^ mazzetto m.
hands of (young persons.) — The chairs, tables, and
mano f. giovane m. (47) sedia f.(35) tavola f.
sofas of the drawing-room.—The nights of Italy are
(48) canape m. sala f. notte f. (49)
charming.—The days of our youth.— Kings and pea-
incantevole giorno m. nostra gioventil f. (48) re m. consants
are equal before God.— (Let us imitate) their virtues and
ladino eguale avanti Imitiamo loro virtù f. ed
avoid their defects.—We have visited the principal cities
evitiamo difetto m. visitato (49) principale città f.
ofitaly.—Theancientmodeofwritingwas on bricks, tiles,
antico modo scrivere [17) mattone m. tegolo m.
and tables of stone, on ivory, and on the leaves and bark of
trees.
pietrai, avorio m. [35) foglia f.
We owe to our ancestors our
corteccia^.
civil and
albero va. Andiamo debitori antenato va. [delle nostre) civile
* Nouns are now given in the singular, also past participles and adjec-
tives, which in Italian agree with the noun to which they refer.