The Definite Article in Italian – ‘THE’
There are 7 ways to write ‘THE‘ in Italian
SINGULAR il lo l’ la
PLURAL i gli le
In Italian, nouns are either masculine (m.) or feminine (f.)
In Italian, nouns are either singular (s.) or plural (p.)
SUMMARY
Nouns fall into one of these 4 categories
MASCULINE SINGULAR (ms) FEMININE SINGULAR (fs) |
MASCULINE PLURAL (mp) FEMININE PLURAL (fp) |
Each gender has its own articles for both the singular and the plural – here are the rules to learn
| MASCULINE SINGULAR (ms) il lo or l’ FEMININE SINGULAR (fs) |
MASCULINE PLURAL (mp) il becomes i lo and (lo) l’ both become gli FEMININE PLURAL (fp) la and (la) l’ both become le |
LANGUAGE IN ACTION
Now let’s examine some examples
| MASCULINE
|
| MASCULINE SINGULAR il |
masculine singular, starts with a consonant il gelato il concerto il cappuccino PLURAL … il gelato becomes i gelati il concerto becomes i concerti il cappuccino becomes i cappuccini |
| MASCULINE SINGULAR lo |
masculine singular, starts with a
z lo zaino becomes gli zaini s + consonant sp st sm sn sb sc sg
|
| MASCULINE SINGULAR l’ |
singular, starts with a vowel, abbreviated from lo to l’ lo + vowel / starts with a silent ‘h’ becomes = l’ l’ albero becomes gli alberi l’angelo becomes gli angeli l’ handicappato becomes gli handicappati |
| FEMININE
|
| FEMININE SINGULAR
la becomes le |
feminine singular, starts with a consonant (EXCEPTION: not z/s+consonant)la casa becomes le case la cucina becomes le cucine la limonata becomes le limonate |
| FEMININE SINGULAR
la becomes le |
la becomes l’ before a vowel in the singular l’ aranciata becomes le aranciate |
| l’ | starts with a vowel, abbreviated from lo to l’ singular, starts with a vowel, abbreviated from lo to l’ lo + vowel / starts with a silent ‘h’ becomes = l’ l’ albero becomes gli alberi l’angelo becomes gli angeli l’ handicappato becomes gli handicappati starts with a vowel, abbreviated from lo to l’ singular, starts with a vowel, abbreviated from lo to l’ lo + vowel / starts with a silent ‘h’ becomes = l’ l’ albero becomes gli alberi l’angelo becomes gli angeli l’ handicappato becomes gli handicappati |
| all plurals |
| MASCULINE PLURAL |
| il becomes i |
masculine plural, starts with a consonant (EXCEPTION: not z/s+consonant)il gelato becomes i gelati il concerto becomes i concerti il cappuccino becomes i cappuccini |
| lo becomes gli |
masculine plural, starts with a z/s+consonant
z |
| l’ (lo) becomes gli | starts with a vowel, abbreviated from lo to l’ singular, starts with a vowel, abbreviated from lo to l’ lo + vowel / starts with a silent ‘h’ becomes = l’ l’ albero becomes gli alberi l’angelo becomes gli angeli l’ handicappato becomes gli handicappati |