L’articolo determinativo / The definite article.

The definite article tells us that we are talking about a specific, known person or thing:

• Il gatto (the cat).
• La penna (the pen).
• Gli astronauti (the astronauts).
• Le bambine (the baby girls).

Form of the definite articles.

	Singolare (Singular)	Plural (Plural)
Maschile (Masculine)	Il L‘ Lo	I Gli Gli
Feminine (Feminine)	La L’	Le

Uses of the definite articles.

1. The definite articles (IL and LA)

• The form (il) and (la) are used before nouns that begin with a consonant.
• The plural of (il) is (i) and of (la) is (le).

		Singular		Plural
M.	il	bambino giornale libro mese problema treno	i	bambini giornali libri mesi problemi treni
F.	la	bambina donna ragazza penna casa macchina	le	bambine donne ragazze penne case macchine

The definite article “la” is used before words that start with the (i) semi-consonant (la iena) or with foreign nouns starting with “h” or “w” (la hall, la holding, la webcam, la west coast).

The definite article “il” is used with names of foreign origin starting with “w” (il whisky, il windsurf, il weekend).

2. The definite article (Lo)

• The form “lo” is used before masculine nouns that begin with an (s + consonant; z; gn; ps; x; pn).
• The plural of “lo” is “gli“.

		Singular		Plural
M.	LO	studente scherzo zio zaino gnocco psicologo xilofono xenofobo pneumologo	Gli	studenti scherzi zii zaini gnocchi psicologi xilofoni xenofobi pneumologi

The definite article Lo is used with names of foreign origin starting with “y” (lo yoga, lo yacht).

3. The definite article (L’)

• The form (l’) is used before nouns that begin with a vowel.
• The plural of masculine (l’) is (gli) and of feminine (l’) is (le).

		Singular		Plural
M.	L’	amico esercizio indirizzo ospedale ufficio	GLI	amici esercizi indirizzi ospedali uffici
F.	L’	amica esperienza idea università uscita	LE	amiche aule esperienze idee università uscite

The masculine article (L’) is used with names of foreign origin starting with “h“:

• l’hotel.
• l’hamburger.
• l’hobby.

But

• Lo humor.

The article (L’) is never used before nouns that begin with the semiconsonant i- (ia-, ie-, io-, iu-).

• Lo iato (the hiatus)
• Lo iettatore (the jinx)
• Lo ione (the ion).
• Lo iutificio (jute factory).

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Next lesson:

Usi dell’articolo determinativo/Uses of the definite article

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