Do you know how to use Italian Definite Articles correctly? Learn how to do just that with me today and practice with a little quiz at the end of the article.
In English you have THE, in Italian, we have: IL, LO, LA, I, GLI, LE, L'. Do you know how to choose the correct one? Well, it's very easy. In Italian we choose the correct definite article based on three things: gender and number of the word, and the first few letters of the word itself.
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1. Masculine definite articles
IL = masculine singular nouns starting with a consonant (il libro, il mare, il ristorante)
LO = masculine singular nouns starting with s+consonant and z (lo zaino, lo studente, lo spagnolo). These are the most common ones but we would also use LO with words starting with ps, pn, gn, x and y. However, words starting with these letters are less common.
L’ = masculine singular words starting with a vowel (l’amico, l’asino)
I = masculine plural nouns starting with a consonant (i libri, i ristoranti)
GLI = masculine plural nouns starting with a vowel or s+consonant, z and all the other letters we’ve seen with LO (gli zaini, gli srtudenti, gli amici)
2. Feminine definite articles
LA = feminine singular nouns starting with a consonant (la scuola, la palestra)
L’ = feminine singular nouns starting with a vowel (l’amica)
LE = all plural feminine nouns (le scuole, le palestre, le amiche)
3. Final quiz
If you have any questions about this topic, feel free to send me a message in the contact section of my website.
Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me!
A presto,
Stefano