Lesson 3: The, a, an. You think it's all?
Articles. Aaaaah... Like I said, everything is male or female. Our penna (pen) is a female. Tavolo (table) is male noun. The is the definite article in English. In Italian...
• il (or lo, if the word begins with s + consonant, z, gn, ps, pn, x, y and consonant clusters) is the definite article of singular masculine nouns. Like our tavolo, that becomes il tavolo (the table).
• la is the definite article of singular feminine nouns: la penna (the pen).
• i (or gli, if the word begins with a vowel or z, sc, gn and consonant clusters) is the definite article for plural masculine nouns. Il tavolo becomes i tavoli.
• le is for the plural feminine nouns: la penna becomes le penne.
As for indefinite articles, we have three of them. They correspond in English to a and an.
• un (uno before z, sc, gn and consonant clusters) for masculine nouns, like un tavolo (a table)
• una for feminine nouns, like una penna (a pen)
That seems difficult! But really isn't. Trust me. It's a matter of observation. You just have to watch the noun.
Some examples...
il cane -> un cane
i cani
lo gnomo -> uno gnomo
gli gnomi
la vacanza - una vacanza
le vacanze
• il (or lo, if the word begins with s + consonant, z, gn, ps, pn, x, y and consonant clusters) is the definite article of singular masculine nouns. Like our tavolo, that becomes il tavolo (the table).
• la is the definite article of singular feminine nouns: la penna (the pen).
• i (or gli, if the word begins with a vowel or z, sc, gn and consonant clusters) is the definite article for plural masculine nouns. Il tavolo becomes i tavoli.
• le is for the plural feminine nouns: la penna becomes le penne.
As for indefinite articles, we have three of them. They correspond in English to a and an.
• un (uno before z, sc, gn and consonant clusters) for masculine nouns, like un tavolo (a table)
• una for feminine nouns, like una penna (a pen)
That seems difficult! But really isn't. Trust me. It's a matter of observation. You just have to watch the noun.
Some examples...
il cane -> un cane
i cani
lo gnomo -> uno gnomo
gli gnomi
la vacanza - una vacanza
le vacanze