Co.As.It. Italian Language Program Learn Italian the FUN way ITALIAN LEVEL A1.1. Articoli determinativi Definite articles
Co.As.It. Italian Language Program – Learn Italian the FUN way ITALIAN – LEVEL A1.1 Articoli determinativi – Definite articles In English there is jus...
Co.As.It. Italian Language Program – Learn Italian the FUN way ITALIAN – LEVEL A1.1 Articoli determinativi – Definite articles In English there is just one definite article, THE and it is used with all nouns, both in the singular and in the plural. In Italian there are many different ways of saying THE, according to the gender (feminine or masculine), the number (singular or plural) and the initial letter of the noun that follows. The rules for using the singular definite articles are similar to those you already know for the indefinite articles: LO is used before a masculine singular noun beginning with z, s + consonant, gn, ps lo zio (the uncle)
lo studente (the student)
lo gnocco (the dumpling)
lo psicologo (the psychologist
lo sciopero (the strike)
lo zoo (the zoo)
lo straniero (the foreigner)
lo sconto (the discount)
IL is used before a masculine singular noun beginning with any other consonant il bambino (the child)
il sugo (the sauce)
il castello (the castle)
il pane (the bread)
il riso (the rice)
il ragazzo (the boy)
il gatto (the cat)
il cane (the dog)
LA is used before a singular feminine noun beginning with a consonant la scuola (the school)
la zanzara (the mosquito)
la casa (the house)
la ragazza (the girl)
la mela (the apple)
la sedia (the chair)
la zia (the aunt)
la strada (the street)
L’ is used before a masculine OR feminine singular noun beginning with a vowel l’amico (the friend)
Co.As.It. Italian Language Program – Learn Italian the FUN way NOTE: When a definite article is directly followed by an adjective, rather than by a noun, its form depends on the gender and the initial letter of the adjective. This means the same noun may require a different article if it is preceded by an adjective. il giorno (the day)
l’ultimo giorno (the last day)
l’esercizio (the exercise) la scuola (the school) l’opinione (the opinion)
lo stesso giorno (the same day)
il seguente esercizio (the next exercise) l’enorme scuola (the enormous school) la stessa opinione (the same opinion)
AGGETTIVI QUALIFICATIVI – DESCRIPTIVE ADJECTIVES Descriptive adjectives (gli aggettivi qualificativi) tell you what things are like – they describe nouns and pronouns: a tall boy, an important book, the weather is nice, a white one, those new ones In Italian adjectives change their form to agree in number and gender with the noun or pronoun they describe and they usually follow the noun they refer to (il ragazzo inglese = the English boy). singular