The indefinite article in Italian varies depending on gender (masculine and feminine) and the beginning letter of the following word. Learn the rules of the indefinite article in Italian!
The indefinite article in Italian
The indefinite article is used – as in English – to refer to something unknown or that you mention for the first time. In Italian, nouns and articles have two genders, masculine and feminine, and the article has to adapt to it. It is also important to look at the first letter of the following word. Have a look at the table with the rules.
Masculine
The masculine has two articles: un and uno.
| Singular | |
| before consonant or vowel | un cane a dog un amico a friend |
| before s+consonant before z1 | uno stivale a boot uno zio an uncle |
1Besides s+consonant and z, there are a few more peculiar cases: y (uno yogurt), x (uno xilofono), gn (uno gnomo), ps (uno psicologo).
Feminine
The feminine has only one article: una. However, before a vowel the final -a is dropped becoming un’.
| Singular | |
| before consonant | una casa a house |
| before vowel | un’isola an island |
In order to use the articles appropriately, you should know if the word is feminine or masculine. To learn more about Italian noun and their gender, you can read this article: masculine and feminine: the 3 Italian noun classes.
Wanna learn the definite article and do some exercises? Read our article the definite article in Italian.
