Language/Italian/Grammar/Definite-Articles

Definite Articles in Italian

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Hello everybody,

In today's lesson you will learn some useful vocabulary about ¨DEFINITE ARTICLES¨ in Italian

Feel free to edit this page by adding new words and expressions !

Good learning ! :)

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Some words for Definite Articles in Italian

The definite article is always used before a noun, a noun phrase or a verb in the infinitive form used as a noun.

In Italian the definite article alway matches with gender and number of the noun.

Male singular	Male plural	Female singular	Female plural
Il, lo	I, gli	la	le

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Male singular nouns which begin with a consonant take il, its plural counterpart is i:

• S: il mare, il cavallo, il tempo, il principale, il giardino;
• P: i mari, i cavalli, i tempi, i principali, i giardini.

. Male singular nouns which begin with double consonant, s + consonant, x, y,z and i as half-consonant take lo, its plural counterpart is gli:

• S: lo sconto, lo psicologo, lo gnu, lo zingaro, lo yeti, lo xenofobo, lo iato;
• P: gli sconti, gli psicologi, gli gnu, gli zingari, gli yeti, gli xenofobi, gli iati.

. Male singular nouns which begin with vowel take lo. Please note two vowel sound cannot stay together in the same phrase, so the definite article drops the -o ending and replaces it with an apostrophe.

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• S: l’amico, l’albero, l’altare, l’informatore, l’uomo;
• P: gli amici, gli alberi, gli altari, gli informatori, gli uomini.

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Please note that gli does not drop its vowel-ending, though it is allowed by literary usage, which to a native Italian will be seeming old-fashioned.

Gl’amici, gl’alberi, gl’uomini…

. Female nouns take la and le regardless to the sound which follows. Please note that la drops its vowel in favor of an apostrophe before a vowel-sound:

. S: la casa, la madre, la città, l’amica, l’entrata;

• P: le case, le madri, le città, le amiche, le entrate.

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The definite article is not used:

1. Before proper nouns (Mario, not il Mario), however this usage is commonly widespread in Northern Italy;
2. Before nouns referring to close relatives, usually followed by a proper noun as well (mio figlio Giovanni, zia Antonella);
3. Before city names (Milano è inquinata); articles might be used when we refer to a particular timeline e.g. La Milano di vent’anni fa;
4. Before months and days of the week;
5. Before names of minor islands (e.g. Lipari) with the following exceptions: l’Elba, la Maddalena, il Giglio but Capri, Ischia;
6. In negative sentences before unquantified amounts of objects, e.g. Non voglio soldi but Dammi i soldi;
7. In fixed collocation and whenever the noun refers to way, mean and instrument: eg. Ho sonno, ha fame, Lucia fa amicizia, vado in machina, scarpe da tennis not scarpe del tennis;
8. In list*S: Ho comprato: borse, scarpe, vestiti;

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The definite artice is used:

1. Before family names in plural form: I Rossi sono davvero gentili;
2. Before names of rivers, lakes, mounts, regions, countries, seas, oceans, major islands (La Sicilia) unless they are not preceded by simple preposition in;
3. When distributive meaning is involved: Ti chiamerò il giovedì – that means “every thursday”;
4. Whenever we mean to stress on a relevant detail: Carlo, il mio amico has a different meaning than Carlo è mio amico. In the first case Carlo is implied to be the best friend, in the second sentence he is just regarded as a friend as others.