Italian Articles (Gli Articoli)

Articles are small but mighty! In Italian, every noun has a gender (masculine or feminine) and a number (singular or plural), and the article must match it perfectly. Unlike English, where “the” works for everything, Italian is a bit more specific. But don’t worry, there are clear rules!

Definite Articles (The)

Definite articles are used to talk about specific things (THE car, THE book).

Masculine Singular

Article	When to use	Example
il	Before consonants (except s+consonant, z, gn, ps)	il libro (the book), il cane (the dog)
lo	Before s+consonant, z, gn, ps, y	lo studente, lo zaino, lo yogurt
l’	Before vowels	l’amico (the friend), l’albero (the tree)

Masculine Plural

Singular	Plural	Example
il	i	i libri, i cani
lo	gli	gli studenti, gli zaini
l’	gli	gli amici, gli alberi

Feminine Singular

Article	When to use	Example
la	Before consonants	la casa (the house), la donna (the woman)
l’	Before vowels	l’amica (the friend), l’isola (the island)

Feminine Plural

Singular	Plural	Example
la	le	le case, le donne
l’	le	le amiche, le isole

Summary Table: Definite Articles

Gender	Singular	Plural	Rules
Masculine	il	i	Most consonants
	lo	gli	s+cons, z, gn, ps
	l’	gli	Vowels
Feminine	la	le	Consonants
	l’	le	Vowels

Indefinite Articles (A/An)

Indefinite articles are used to talk about non-specific things (A book, AN apple).

Masculine

Article	When to use	Example
un	Before vowels and most consonants	un amico, un libro
uno	Before s+consonant, z, gn, ps, y	uno studente, uno zaino

Feminine

Article	When to use	Example
una	Before consonants	una casa, una pizza
un’	Before vowels (use apostrophe!)	un’amica, un’idea

Note: There are no plural indefinite articles in the strict sense. For “some”, we use partitive articles (dei, degli, delle).

When to Use Articles (Differences from English)

In Italian, use the definite article:

1. With abstract nouns and general categories:

   • L’amore è importante. (Love is important)
   • Mi piace il caffè. (I like coffee - in general)

2. With possessive adjectives (usually):

   • La mia macchina (My car)
   • Il tuo libro (Your book)
   • Exception: singular family members (mia madre, not la mia madre)

3. With titles (when talking about someone):

   • Il Signor Rossi è qui. (Mr. Rossi is here)
   • Unless you’re talking TO them: “Buongiorno, Signor Rossi!”

4. With times:

   • Sono le otto. (It’s eight o’clock)

5. With dates:

   • Il 25 dicembre (December 25th)

Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Using “il” before vowels

• Wrong: Il amico
• Right: L’amico

❌ Using “un” with apostrophe for masculine words

• Wrong: Un’amico (masculine)
• Right: Un amico
• Right: Un’amica (feminine requires apostrophe)

❌ Using articles with singular family members + possessive

• Wrong: Il mio padre
• Right: Mio padre
• But plural needs it: I miei fratelli (My brothers)

❌ Omitting the article with general preferences

• Wrong: Mi piace pizza
• Right: Mi piace la pizza

Practice Exercises

Choose the correct definite article (il, lo, la, l’, i, gli, le):

1. _______ ragazzo (boy)
2. _______ scuola (school)
3. _______ albero (tree - masc.)
4. _______ studenti (students)
5. _______ zaino (backpack)
6. _______ amica (friend - fem.)
7. _______ cani (dogs)
8. _______ isola (island)
9. _______ zio (uncle)
10. _______ pizze (pizzas)

Answers

1. il ragazzo
2. la scuola
3. **l’**albero
4. gli studenti
5. lo zaino
6. **l’**amica
7. i cani
8. **l’**isola
9. lo zio
10. le pizze

Great start! Articles are everywhere in Italian, so you’ll get plenty of practice just by reading and listening! 📚