Italian Reference Grammar - Nouns, articles and adjectives
Articles
' 'The' and 'a' are … called the definite article (the) and the indefinite article (a, an). In modern grammar, both are called determiners.' (Language into Languages Teaching, University of Glasgow, Scottish Executive Education Department, 2001)
The definite article
In Italian, the singular definite article is lo/il/l’ if the noun is masculine and la/l’ if the noun is feminine.
Both lo and la are shortened to l' if the noun begins with a vowel, to make the pronunciation easier.
Plurals and the definite article
If the noun is masculine plural, lo becomes gli, il becomes i and l’ becomes gli.
If the noun is feminine plural, both la and l’ become le.
This table shows what happens to the masculine definite articles in the plural.
| Masculine singular | Masculine plural | When used |
| lo - the | gli - the | before words that start with 's + consonant' / 'z' / 'ps' / 'gn' eg 'lo studente' - 'the student' / 'gli scherzi' - 'the jokes' |
| il - the | i- the | before words that start with the other consonants eg 'il sole' - 'the sun' / 'i libri' - 'the books' |
| l’ - the | gli - the | before words that start with vowels eg 'l’uomo' - 'the man' / 'gli aeroplani'- 'the aeroplanes' |
| Feminine singular | Feminine plural | When used |
| la - the | le - the | before words that start with consonants eg 'la scuola' - 'the school' / 'le scuole' - 'the schools' |
| l’ - the | le- the | before words that start with vowels eg 'l’Italia' - 'Italy' / 'le italiane' - 'the Italian girls/women' |
The indefinite article
In Italian, the indefinite article is uno/un if the noun is masculine and una/un’ if the noun is feminine.
Masculine singular
Uno before words that starts with s +consonant, z,ps,gn: uno studente - a student
Un before words that start with the other consonants or with a vowel: un orologio - a clock, un cane - a dog
Feminine singular
Una before words that start with consonant: una città - a town.
Un’ before words that start with vowel: un’amica - a (female) friend
Plurals and the indefinite article
If the noun is plural:
- Uno and un become degli or dei
- una/un’ become delle
For example:
| Singular indefinite article + noun | Plural indefinite article + noun | English translations |
| uno studente | degli studenti | a student / some students |
| un orologio | degli orologi | a clock / some clocks |
| un cane | dei cani | a dog / some dogs |
| una città | delle città | a city / some cities |
| un’amica | delle amiche | a female friend / some female friends |
Omitting the article
The article can be omitted in English. For example, we can say 'I love cakes'. In Italian, the article cannot normally be omitted. Therefore, if we wish to express in Italian the sentence 'I love cakes', we have to decide whether the speaker means 'I love (all) cakes' or 'I love (some) cakes'. If we agree that the statement is a general statement referring to all cakes, then in Italian we would use the definite article and the sentence becomes:
(io) adoro i dolci.
The contracted forms
In Italian, when you use 'a' with the definite article lo/il/l’ or la/l’ (meaning 'in/to/at the'), the two words contract to form one.
Similarly, when you use 'di'/'de' together with the definite article lo/il/l’ or la/l’ (meaning 'of the'), the two words contract together.
The sets of two words contract to form any of the following:
- allo (a + lo)
- al (a + il)
- all’ (a + l’)
- alla (a + la)
- all’ (a + l’)
- dello (de + lo)
- del (de + il)
- dell’ (de + l’)
- della (de + la)
- dell’ (de + l’)
For example:
| Preposition | Article | Example | English translation |
| a | lo (masculine singular) | allo stadio | at the stadium |
| a | il (masculine singular) | al parco | at the park |
| a | l’ (masculine singular) | all’aeroporto | at the airport |
| a | la (feminine singular) | alla stazione | at the station |
| a | l' (feminine singular) | all’ ombra | in the shadow |
| a | gli (masculine plural) | agli estremi | to the extremes |
| a | i (masculine plural) | ai confini | at the borders |
| a | le (feminine plural) | alle piscine | at the swimming pools |
| di | lo (masculine singular) | dello stesso | of the same |
| di | il (masculine singular) | del cane | of the dog |
| di | l’ (masculine singular) | dell’ uomo | of the man |
| di | la (feminine singular) | della ragazza | of the girl |
| di | l’ (feminine singular) | dell’ amica | of the friend |
| di | gli (masculine plural) | degli amici | of the friends |
| di | i (masculine plural) | dei bambini | of the children |
| di | le (feminine plural) | delle piscine | of the swimming pools |