GRAMMATICA ITALIANA: GLI ARTICOLI

In Italian there are two main types of article: definite (determinativi) and indefinites (indeterminativi).

The definite articles are used to introduce nouns which refer to a specific item, in English we would use the article the.

The indefinites are used when we know what type of person or thing the noun refers to, but not which individual; they are equivalent to the articles a and an in English.


ARTICOLI DETERMINATIVI

In English the definite article (l'articolo determinativo) has only one form: the.

In Italian, it has different forms according to the gender, number, and first letter of the noun it precedes.

Il          is used before masculine singular nouns beginning with a consonant
            Il libro, il tavolo

L’         is used before masculine singular nouns beginning with a vowel
             L’aereo, l’orologio

Lo        is used before masculine singular nouns beginning with s + consonant or z
             Lo studente, lo zaino


I           is used before masculine plural nouns beginning with a consonant
            I libri, I tavoli


Gli       is used before masculine plural nouns beginning with a vowel or s + consonant or z
            Gli aerei, gli orologi, gli studenti, gli zaini


La        is used before feminine singular nouns beginning with any consonant
            La sedia, la penna


L’         is used before feminine singular nouns beginning with a vowel
            L’amica, l’insalata


Le        is used before feminine plural nouns beginning with a consonant or a vowel
            Le sedie, le penne, le amiche, le insalate

 

ARTICOLI INDETERMINATIVI

The Italian indefinite article (l'articolo indeterminativo) corresponds to English a/an and is used with singular nouns.

Un       is used for masculine words beginning with a consonant or a vowel
            Un tavolo, un amico


Uno     is used for masculine words beginning with z or s + consonant
            Uno zio, uno studente


Una     is used for feminine words beginning with a consonant
            Una sedia, una zia


 Un’     is used for feminine words beginning with a vowel. 
            Un’amica, un’idea