Italian Definite Articles: Beginner Grammar Essentials
In this post, we’ll look at Italian definite articles. First, we’ll start by defining them. After that we’ll see an overview of the main forms. Next, we’ll dig deeper into masculine forms, showing some special forms used that depend on the initial sound of the noun following the article. After that we’ll do the same thing for feminine nouns. So, let’s get started.
What is an Italian Definite Article?
Italian definite articles all correspond to English the. However, they come in many forms, making them a challenge for beginner students of Italian. All of these forms exist because Italian definite articles agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural). But there are also modifications that depend on the first sound of the noun.
The other kind of articles, indefinite articles, correspond to English a or an. You can learn about them in this post.
Main Forms
If we start with gender and number, we have four forms of Italian definite articles.
| singular | plural | |
| masculine | il | i |
| feminine | la | le |
But that’s not quite the end of the story, because most of those forms change depending on the first sound of the noun. That gives us a more complicated table:
| singular | plural | |
| masculine | il (l’, lo) | i (gli) |
| feminine | la (l’) | le |
Now let’s see how all of those forms are used.
Masculine Italian Definite Articles
First, let’s look at the masculine definite articles il (l’, lo) in the singular and i (gli) in the plural.
Singular: il
The form il is used before masculine singular nouns beginning with any consonant other than s + consonant (sp, st, etc.), z, gn, ps, x, or y.
- il fratello (the brother)
- il ragazzo (the boy)
- il padre (the father)
- il libro (the book)
- il tavolo (the table)
- il cane (the dog)
Special Form: l’
If the masculine singular noun begins with a vowel, il becomes l’.
- l’amico (the friend)
- l’orologio (the watch)
- l’uomo (the man)
- l’aeroporto (the airport)
- l’ufficio (the office)
- l’esempio (the example)
Special Form: lo
If the masculine singular noun begins with “impure s” (s followed by a consonant, sp, st, sc, etc.), z, gn, ps, x, or y, il becomes lo.
- lo specchio (the mirror)
- lo studente (the student)
- lo zaino (the backpack)
- lo psicologo (the psychologist)
- lo stadio (the stadium)
- lo gnomo (the gnome)
Plural: i
Singular nouns that take il take i in the plural. Of course, the noun is made plural, typically by changing singular –o or –e to –i.
- il fratello (the brother) > i fratelli (the brothers)
- il ragazzo (the boy) > i ragazzi (the boys)
- il padre (the father) > i padri (the fathers)
- il libro (the book) > i libri (the books)
- il tavolo (the table) > i tavoli (the tables)
- il cane (the dog) > i cani (the dogs)
Special Form: gli
Singular nouns that take l’ or lo take gli in the plural. Again, masculine singular nouns ending in –o or –e typically change to –i in the plural.
- lo specchio (the mirror) > gli specchi (the mirrors)
- lo studente (the student) > gli studenti (the students)
- lo zaino (the backpack) > gli zaini (the backpacks)
- l’amico (the friend) > gli amici (the friends)
- l’aeroporto (the airport) > gli aeroporti (the airports)
Feminine Italian Definite Articles
Now, let’s turn to the feminine definite articles la (l’) in the singular and le in the plural.
Singular: la
The form la is used before feminine singular nouns beginning with any consonant.
- la donna (the woman)
- la ragazza (the girl)
- la casa (the house)
- la porta (the door)
- la notte (the night)
- la sedia (the chair)
Special Form: l’
If the feminine singular noun begins with a vowel, la becomes l’.
- l’acqua (the water)
- l’amica (the (female) friend)
- l’idea (the idea)
- l’aria (the air)
- l’aula (the classroom)
- l’estate (the summer)
Plural: le
Feminine plural nouns are the easiest, because they all use le, regardless of how they begin. In other words, both la and l’ (fem.) become le. Remember that the feminine singular –a becomes –e, and the feminine singular –e becomes -i.
- la donna (the woman) > le donne (the women)
- la ragazza (the girl) > le ragazze (the girls)
- la casa (the house) > le case (the houses)
- la notte (the night) > le notti (the nights)
- l’amica (the (f.) friend) > le amiche (the (f.) friends)
- l’estate (the summer) > le estati (the summers)
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