The Eastern Lombard Grammar reflects the main features of Romance languages: the word order of Eastern Lombard is usually SVO, nouns are inflected in number, adjectives agree in number and gender with the nouns, verbs are conjugated in tenses, aspects and moods and agree with the subject in number and person. The case system is present only for the weak form of the pronoun. Eastern Lombard has always been a spoken language and, in spite of sporadic attempts to fix the main features in a written grammar, a unique canonical variety has never prevailed over the others. The present day situation sees a large number of varieties, roughly identifiable by the area where a particular variety is spoken (so, you may encounter a Bergamasque, Brescian, a Camunic variety, etc.). Varieties differ mainly in phonology, syntax and word choice. This grammar is based on the Brescian variety and, although local differences (even remarkable) can be found, the basic principles are generally valid for the other varieties. Nouns Nouns in Eastern Lombard have two grammatical genders: masculine and feminine. Singular Masculine Masculine singular nouns generally end with a consonant: • gat, cat • òm, man but can often end with a stressed vowel: this usually happens where a historical -n has been dropped. • cà, dog • pà, bread • carbù, coal Feminine Feminine singular nouns generally end with -a: • gàta, female cat • fónna, woman but can occasionally end with a consonant: • néf, snow Note that, in some varieties, the final -a represents an /ɔ/ sound, that can make feminine words sound like they end in *-o. Plural Masculine Masculine plural nouns follow particular rules depending on the ending of the singular form of the noun. If the singular ends with a stressed vowel, the word does not change in the plural: • el cà → i cà If the singular ends with -c, -j, -m, -p, -r or -s, the plural remains identical to the singular: • el sac → i sac • el ventàj → i ventàj • el póm → i póm • el cóp → i cóp • el pér → i pér • el ciós → i ciós If the singular ends with -t, the plural will end with -cc (pronounced [tʃ]): • el gat → i gacc If the singular ends with -n, the plural will end with -gn (pronounced [ɲ]): • el