Italian Definite Article

In English the definite article (l'articolo determinativo) has only one form: the. In Italian, l’articolo determinativo has different forms according to the gender, number, and first letter of the noun or adjective it precedes.

i ragazzi e le ragazze (the boys and girls)
il quaderno e la penna (the notebook and pen)

Here are some rules for using definite articles:

1. Lo (plural: gli) is used before masculine nouns beginning with s + consonant or z.
2. Il (plural: i) is used before masculine nouns beginning with all other consonants.
3. La (plural: le) is used before feminine nouns beginning with any consonant.
4. L’ (plural: gli) is used before masculine nouns beginning with a vowel.
5. L’ (plural: le) is used before feminine nouns beginning with a vowel.

The article agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies and is repeated before each noun.

The first letter of the word immediately following the article determines the article’s form.

In Italian, the definite article must always be used before the name of a language, except when the verbs parlare (to speak) or studiare (to study) directly precede the name of the language; in those cases, the use of the article is optional.

Italian Indefinite Article

The Italian indefinite article (l'articolo indeterminativo) corresponds to English a/an and is used with singular nouns. It also corresponds to the number one.

Uno is used for masculine words beginning with z or s + consonant; un is used for all other masculine words. Una is used for feminine words beginning with a consonant; un’ is used for feminine words beginning with a vowel.

uno zio (uncle)
una zia (aunt)
un cugino (cousin, m.)
una cugina (cousin, f.)
un amico (friend, m.)
un’amica (friend, f.)

Partitive Article

L'articolo partitivo (partitive article) is used to indicate imprecise or approximate quantities, it translates to the english "some". It appears before singular nouns (del miele=some honey, del caffè=some coffee) as well as before plural nouns of an unspecified amount (dei libri=some books, delle ragazze=some kids). The partitive is expressed by the Italian preposition di which means of or from, combined with the definite article.

della (f.s.)
delle (f.p)

(before a vowel) dell' (f.s.)
delle (f.p.)

del (m.s.)
dei (m.p.)

(before a vowel) dell' (m.s.)
degli (m.p.)

(before the letters z, x +consonant, and gn) dello (m.s.)
degli (m.p.)

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