Language/Italian/Grammar/Definite-Articles

The definite article

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

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. 

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

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.

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 lists: Ho comprato: borse, scarpe, vestiti;

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.