There are several words in Italian that have two plural forms—a masculine and a feminine. Many of these are related to parts of the body and have diverse meanings.
|
IRREGULAR PLURALS | ||
|
SINGULAR |
MASCULINE PLURAL |
FEMININE PLURAL |
|
braccio |
i bracci (arms of a lamp or cross) |
le braccia (arms) |
|
budello |
i budelli (streets, alleyways) |
le budella (intestines) |
|
calcagno |
i calcagni (ankles) |
stare alle calcagna (to follow someone closely) |
|
ciglio |
i cigli (edge, rim) |
le ciglia (eyelashes) |
|
dito |
i diti (used when followed by the finger's name) |
le dita (fingers) |
|
labbro |
i labbri border, brim |
le labbra lips |
|
osso |
gli ossi (bones for dogs to eat) |
le ossa (bones) |