Definite articles

Definite articles in Italian vary depending on gender (masculine and feminine), number (singular and plural) and the beginning letter of the following word. It may be sound a bit complicated, but youโ€™ll surely learn the definite articles pretty quickly. Letโ€™s learn together the rules of the definite article (it. l’articolo determinativo) in Italian!

Definite articles in Italian

The definite article is used โ€“ as in English โ€“ to refer back to something known or already mentioned. In Italian, nouns and articles have two genders, masculine and feminine, and they can be either singular or plural. For example, il cane the dog is masculine singular. For the definite articles it is also important to see which is the first letter of the following word. Have a look at the table with the rules. In il cane it is a consonant. Take a look at the table with the rules.

Masculine

The masculine has four articles: il and lo for the singular, i and gli for the plural. Bevor vowels, the o of lo is dropped, becoming lโ€™.

Singular Plural
before consonant il cane i cani dog
before vowel l’amico gli amici friend
before s+consonant
before z*
lo stivale
lo zio
gli stivali
gli zii
boot
uncle

*Besides s+consonant and z, there are further peculiar cases: y (lo yogurt), x (lo xilofono), gn (lo gnomo), ps (lo psicologo).

Feminine

The feminine has two articles: la for the singular and le for the plural. The a of la is dropped before vowels, becoming lโ€™.

Singular Plural
before consonant la mucca le mucche cow
before vowel l’isola le isole island

GRAMMATICA articoli det 1 | Definite articles

Esercizio

1. Gli articoli

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