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Plurals of masculine nouns in '-co' and '-go': 'fuochi', 'alberghi' and the exceptions

Many everyday Italian nouns end in -co or -go: fuoco (fire), parco (park), lago (lake), albergo (hotel). To form the masculine plural you replace the final -o with -i. For most of these words, you also add an h: fuochi, parchi, laghi, alberghi. The h keeps the hard k or g sound of the singular.

English speakers often trip over this for two reasons. First, in Italian ci is pronounced like English chee and gi like jee, so writing fuoci or albergi would change the sound of the word. Second, the h is not added every time. Some common words, such as amico, become amici, with a soft sound. This article covers the words that take -chi and -ghi, gives you a rule of thumb for spotting them, and lists the exceptions worth knowing.

Word list
albergomA1 hotel albergo → alberghi boscomA1 forest bosco → boschi fuocomA1 fire fuoco → fuochi giocomA1 game gioco → giochi lagomA1 lake lago → laghi luogomA1 place luogo → luoghi parcomA1 park parco → parchi succomA1 juice succo → succhi bancomA2 desk banco → banchi elencomA2 list elenco → elenchi fiancomA2 side fianco → fianchi fungomA2 mushroom fungo → funghi saccomA2 bag sacco → sacchi videogiocomA2 video game videogioco → videogiochi albergomB1 inn albergo → alberghi attaccomB1 attack attacco → attacchi attacco di cuoremB1 heart attack attacco di cuore → attacchi di cuore bucomB1 hole buco → buchi cuocomB1 cook cuoco → cuochi dragomB1 dragon drago → draghi fioccomB1 bow fiocco → fiocchi fiocco di nevemB1 snowflake fiocco di neve → fiocchi di neve gioco da tavolomB1 board game gioco da tavolo → giochi da tavolo impiegomB1 position impiego → impieghi ingorgomB1 traffic jam ingorgo → ingorghi ingorgo stradalemB1 traffic jam ingorgo stradale → ingorghi stradali paccomB1 package pacco → pacchi palcomB1 stage palco → palchi parco divertimentimB1 amusement park parco divertimenti → parchi divertimenti parco nazionalemB1 national park parco nazionale → parchi nazionali sacco dell'immondiziamB1 trash bag sacco dell'immondizia → sacchi dell'immondizia sacco della spazzaturamB1 trash bag sacco della spazzatura → sacchi della spazzatura sprecomB1 waste spreco → sprechi svagomB1 leisure svago → svaghi taccomB1 heel tacco → tacchi truccomB1 trick trucco → trucchi agomB2 needle ago → aghi beccomB2 beak becco → becchi brancomB2 pack branco → branchi cascomB2 helmet casco → caschi castigomB2 punishment castigo → castighi chirurgomB2 surgeon chirurgo → chirurghi contrattaccomB2 counter-attack contrattacco → contrattacchi dialogomB2 dialogue dialogo → dialoghi elenco telefonicomB2 phonebook elenco telefonico → elenchi telefonici falcomB2 falcon falco → falchi fangomB2 mud fango → fanghi ficomB2 fig fico → fichi gergomB2 slang gergo → gerghi luogo d'interessemB2 sight luogo d'interesse → luoghi d'interesse magomB2 wizard mago → maghi mangomB2 mango mango → manghi ombelicomB2 belly button ombelico → ombelichi ossicoccomB2 cranberry ossicocco → ossicocchi parco giochimB2 playground parco giochi → parchi giochi piccomB2 peak picco → picchi pizzicomB2 pinch pizzico → pizzichi profugomB2 refugee profugo → profughi sobborgomB2 suburb sobborgo → sobborghi tabaccomB2 tobacco tabacco → tabacchi trichecomB2 walrus tricheco → trichechi troncomB2 tree trunk tronco → tronchi arcipelagomC1 archipelago arcipelago → arcipelaghi attacco informaticomC1 cyberattack attacco informatico → attacchi informatici buco neromC1 black hole buco nero → buchi neri disco fissomC1 hard disk disco fisso → dischi fissi disco rigidomC1 hard disk disco rigido → dischi rigidi drammaturgomC1 playwright drammaturgo → drammaturghi fiancomC1 flank fianco → fianchi monologomC1 monologue monologo → monologhi palcomC1 antler palco → palchi sacco a pelomC1 sleeping bag sacco a pelo → sacchi a pelo scaccomC1 check scacco → scacchi trucco di magiamC1 magic trick trucco di magia → trucchi di magia trucco magicomC1 magic trick trucco magico → trucchi magici attacco di panicomC2 panic attack attacco di panico → attacchi di panico bancomC2 pew banco → banchi bascomC2 beret basco → baschi brucomC2 caterpillar bruco → bruchi disco volantemC2 flying saucer disco volante → dischi volanti obeliscomC2 obelisk obelisco → obelischi ornitorincomC2 platypus ornitorinco → ornitorinchi spagomC2 twine spago → spaghi
How it works

Remember these spelling and sound pairs:

  • ci sounds like chee, chi sounds like kee
  • gi sounds like jee, ghi sounds like ghee (hard g, as in give)

When a noun keeps its hard sound in the plural, the h has to appear in the spelling: pacco becomes pacchi, and fungo becomes funghi. You say the plural with the same k or g sound as the singular.

The best rule of thumb depends on stress. If the stress falls on the second-to-last syllable, as in FUOco, PARco, LAgo or alBERgo, the plural is usually -chi or -ghi. Almost all two-syllable words follow this pattern, so a short word is a safe bet.

The words
Places and nature

Albergo becomes alberghi, whether it means a hotel or an old-fashioned inn. Parco becomes parchi, lago becomes laghi, and bosco (forest, woods) becomes boschi.

Ci sono molti alberghi in questa strada.
(There are many hotels on this street.)
A Roma ci sono tanti parchi bellissimi.
(In Rome there are lots of beautiful parks.)
In Lombardia ci sono molti laghi.
(There are many lakes in Lombardy.)
Dietro il paese ci sono dei boschi molto grandi.
(Behind the village there are some very large woods.)
Everyday things

Fuoco becomes fuochi, gioco (game) becomes giochi, pacco becomes pacchi, and fungo becomes funghi. You will see funghi on almost every Italian menu.

A Capodanno guardiamo i fuochi d'artificio.
(On New Year's Eve we watch the fireworks.)
I bambini hanno tanti giochi in camera.
(The children have lots of games in their room.)
Oggi sono arrivati due pacchi per te.
(Two parcels arrived for you today.)
Vorrei una pizza con i funghi, per favore.
(I'd like a pizza with mushrooms, please.)
People

Cuoco becomes cuochi. This one is useful because many other words for people do not add the h (see below).

I cuochi preparano la cena.
(The cooks are preparing dinner.)
Watch out
Stress on the third-to-last syllable

When the stress falls earlier in the word, the plural usually turns soft: medico (MEdico) becomes medici, and manico (handle) becomes manici. Words for people ending in -logo work the same way: biologo becomes biologi, and psicologo becomes psicologi.

Common exceptions

A few short words break the rule of thumb and take a soft plural even though the stress falls on the second-to-last syllable. Amico becomes amici, nemico becomes nemici, and greco becomes greci. Learn these individually.

Stasera esco con i miei amici.
(Tonight I'm going out with my friends.)
Feminine words are simpler

Feminine nouns in -ca and -ga always keep the hard sound: amica becomes amiche, and riga becomes righe. The tricky choice between soft and hard only affects masculine nouns.

The typical mistake is to write alberghi without the h, or to pronounce funghi with a j sound. If you are unsure how a written plural sounds, read chi and ghi with a hard k or g.

Summary

Masculine nouns in -co and -go that are stressed on the second-to-last syllable usually add an h in the plural to keep their hard sound: fuochi, parchi, laghi, alberghi, cuochi. Words stressed earlier usually go soft (medici, biologi). Also remember the short exceptions amici and nemici.