The Italian Articles

What are the Italian articles as defined by the grammar rules? How do we distinguish definite articles from indefinite ones? Examples and differences will certainly help us to understand better, but let’s start from the beginning.

The word article comes from the Latin articulus, meaning “member,” or “limb,” and is an elementary unit in the system of grammatical forms; a minimum unit that expresses a meaning. The function of Italian articles is to specify some semantic characteristics of a given noun.

The articles specify the pragmatic opposition between the theme (what is known, given in the speech) and rema (what is new in the speech). Or the articles specify the pragmatic opposition between class and member. 

In Italian, all nouns have a gender and a number. This means that everything has a gender, including objects and abstracts. The definite Italian articles must always match gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) of the noun.

Articoli determinativi (definite Italian articles):

In English, we use “the” for all definite articles. In Italian, again, the article must match in gender and number with the subject.

Femine nouns are preceded by la (singular) or le (plural). If a singular noun begins with a consonant, then the “a” is dropped and the article is simply L’. 

Masculine nouns have more variations, as explained in the section further below. 

“la” is the definite article that corresponds to feminine nouns.

• La casa the house.
• La scarpa  the shoe.

“il”-“lo” are the definite articles that correspond to masculine nouns. 

• Il professore the teacher.
• Il telefono the phone.
• Lo studente the student.

Why “il professore” but “lo studente?”  Some masculine nouns use the article “lo” instead of “il.” Here are the rules to determine which article to use.

For singular nouns:

• LO:  It is used for all masculine nouns beginning with s + consonant (st-, sp-, sc-, sv-), z, cluster gn, ps, or vowel.
• IL:   It is used for all other masculine nouns starting with a consonant.
• LA:   It is used with all feminine nouns.
• L’:    This is the elision of “lo” or “la,” and it is used before masculine OR feminine nouns beginning with a vowel.

Examples:

• Lo zucchero  »  the sugar
• Il castello » the castle
• L’acqua » the water
• L’albero » the tree

For plural nouns the rules are the same:

• GLI: It is used with masculine nouns starting with vowels, the consonant z, cluster gn, ps, or clusters made of s + consonant.
• I: It is used with all the other masculine nouns which do not belong to the previous case.
• LE: It is used before any plural feminine noun.

Examples:

• Gli artisti  »  the artists
• I cavalli »  the horses
• Le amiche »  the friends (fem.)
• I ragazzi »  the boys
• Gli stessi ragazzi »  the same boys

Articoli indeterminativi (indeterminate Italian articles):

Masculine singular: UN or UNO = A or ONE

Feminine singular: UNA or UN’ = A or ONE

The Italian indefinite article is only used with singular nouns. It also corresponds to the number one.  Here are some rules to understand how to use these articles:

UNO: It is used for masculine words beginning with z, s + consonant, gn, ps, BUT not vowel.

UN: It is used for all other masculine words, including those starting with a vowel.

UNA: It is used with any feminine nouns.

UN’: It is the elision of “una,” used when feminine nouns start with a vowel.

Examples:

Un treno e una bicicletta »  a train and a bicycle

Uno stadio e un’automobile »  a stadium and a car

Definite and Indefinite Italian Article

Exercises (Answers below)

Complete the following sentences choosing the appropriate article.

1. _____ casa è di fronte al mare.

1. il
2. le
3. la
4. lo

2. ___ albero è in fiore.

1. il 
2. la
3. lo
4. l’

3. ___ vestito di Maria è molto elegante.

1. la
2. lo
3. le
4. il

4. _____  anatre nuotano nello stagno.

1. la
2. il
3. le
4. i

5. Antonio mangia _______ spaghetti ogni giorno.

1. i
2. le
3. gli
4. la

6. _______  bottiglia è vuota.

1. i
2. le
3. gli
4. la

7. _______ aereo vola su Roma.

a)  l’

b)  le

c)  gli

d)  la