1

Definite Articles in Italian

Gli articoli determinativi in italiano

(Definite Articles in Italian)

In English THE is a definite article. – It refers to something specific.

 I need the book. (It is a specific book, one that we both know about)

In English, we are lucky because there is only one form of definite article…. THE
However in Italian there is more than one form of definite article. There is IL, L’, LO, LA, I, GLI, and LE.
So, what is the difference?
The article that is used in Italian depends on the noun. As we have already seen in a previous lesson, Italian nouns
are either masculine or feminine. They can also come in singular or plural form.
Articles in Italian need to match:

 the gender (is the noun masculine or feminine?) and

 the number (is the noun singular or plural?)
Articles with Singular Masculine Nouns in Italian
If a singular noun is masculine then we use either IL, L’, or LO.
The most common masculine definite article (in singular form) is IL.
IL is used before a singular noun that starts with a consonant ( – see the exceptions below that use Lo)
 Il libro (= the book)
 Il telefono (= the telephone)
 Il ragazzo (= the boy)
 Il padre (= the father)

L’ is used before a singular noun that starts with a vowel (= a, e, i, o u).
 L’amico (= the friend)
 L’edificio (= the building)
 L’inverno (= the winter)
 L’occhio (= the eye)
 L’ufficio (= the office)

LO is used before a singular noun that starts with an S + consonant, as well as words that begin with GN-, PN-, PS-,
X-, Y- and Z-.
 Lo stadio (= the stadium)
 Lo gnomo (= the gnome) *
 Lo pneumatico (= the tyre/tire)
 Lo psicologo (= the psychologist)
 Lo xilofono (= the xylophone)
 Lo yogurt (= the yoghurt)
 Lo zio (= the uncle)
 2

* I’m sure you will use lo gnomo a lot on your trip to Italy   …. but seriously, the GN rule exists and there are
only a handful of words that begin with GN- and that was about the best word I could find. The same goes for words
beginning with PS- and PN- … there aren’t many.
X and Y: One of the only words that starts with X in Italian… Lo xilofono also falls under the Lo rule as well as
Lo Yogurt that starts with Y. I didn’t include them in the list of rules as it is basically only those two words that you
need to remember.

Articles with Singular Feminine Nouns in Italian

If a singular noun is feminine then we use either La or L’.

LA is used before a singular noun that starts with a consonant

 La casa (= the house)

 La scuola (= the school)
 La ragazza (= the girl)
 La donna (= the woman)

L’ is used before a singular noun that starts with a vowel (= a, e, i, o u).
 L’acqua (= the water)
 L’estate (= the summer)
 L’insalata (= the salad)

PLURAL ARTICLES —
Articles with Plural Masculine Nouns in Italian
If a plural noun is masculine then we use either I or GLI.
The most common masculine definite article (in plural form) is I.
I is the plural of IL.
I is used before a plural noun that starts with a consonant ( – see the exceptions below that use Gli)
 Il libro — I libri (= the books)
 Il telefono — I telefoni (= the telephones)
 Il ragazzo — I ragazzi (= the boys)
 Il padre — I padri (= the fathers)
GLI is the plural of L’ and LO.

GLI is used before a plural noun that starts with a vowel (= a, e, i, o u), with nouns that starts with an S + consonant,
as well as words that begin with PS-, PN-, GN- and Z-.
 L’amico — Gli amici (= the friends)
 L’edificio — Gli edifici (= the buildings)
 L’inverno — Gli inverni (= the winters)
 L’occhio — Gli occhi (= the eyes)
 L’ufficio — Gli uffici (= the offices)
 3

 Lo stadio — Gli stadi (= the stadiums)

 Lo gnomo — Gli gnomi (= the gnomes)
 Lo pneumatico — Gli pneumatici (= the tyres/tires)
 Lo psicologo — Gli psicologi (= the psychologists)
 Lo xilofono — Gli xilofoni (= the xylophones)
 Lo yogurt — Gli yogurt ** (= the yoghurts)
 Lo zio — Gli zii (= the uncles)

** Yogurt is the same form in singular and plural.

Articles with Plural Feminine Nouns in Italian
If a plural noun is feminine then we use the article Le.
LE is the plural of LA and L’.
LE is used before all plural feminine nouns. It doesn’t matter if it begins with a consonant or a vowel.
 La casa — Le case (= the houses)
 La scuola — Le scuole (= the schools)
 La ragazza — Le ragazze (= the girls)
 La donna — Le donne (= the women)
 L’acqua — Le acque (= the waters)
 L’estate — Le estati (= the summers)
 L’insalata — Le insalate (= the salads)
 L’ora — Le ore (= the hours)
 L’unghia — Le unghie (= the nails – fingernails or toenails)

Days of the Week in Italian

I giorni della settimana in italiano

(The days of the week in Italian)

il giorno = the day (singular)

i giorni = the days (plural)
la settimana = the week
The Italian days of the week do NOT start with a capital letter as in English.

 lunedì – Monday
 martedì – Tuesday
 mercoledì – Wednesday
 giovedì – Thursday
 venerdì – Friday
 sabato – Saturday
 domenica – Sunday
Notice how the “work” days of the week all end in dì.
 4

In italia, il primo giorno della settimana è il lunedì

(In Italy, the first day of the week is lunedì – Monday

Some other words that are associated with days of the week include:

 ieri = yesterday
 oggi = today
 domani = tomorrow
 dopodomani = the day after tomorrow
And everyone’s favorite…

Sabato e domenica = il fine settimana

(Saturday and Sunday = the weekend)
How to ask what day it is in Italian

If you would like to know what day it is, you ask:

 Che giorno è oggi? – What day is it today?

And the response will be the name of the day by itself, or:

 Oggi è … mercoledì. – Today is … Wednesday.

 

Qual è il tuo giorno preferito? (= What is your favorite day?)

Il mio giorno preferito è …

NOTE: All of the days of the week are masculine except for domenica which is feminine.

NOUNS | NOMI 
 5

l’alfabeto
alphabet

l’aula
classroom

gli appunti
notes

il banco
student’s desk
la calcolatrice
calculator
la campanella
school bell
la cattedra
teacher’s desk
la classe
class*Whereas in English we say “go to class” to refer to an individual session of
class, Italian uses lesson or “lezione”
la colla
glue
i compiti
homework

(in the singular “il compito”— homework assignment)

La differenza tra la scuola e la vita? A scuola, si insegna una lezione e poi si da un

compito. Nella vita, si da un compito che vi insegna una lezione. 

(Tom Bodett)

l’esame
test

l’esercizio
exercise

il foglio di carta
sheet of paper
 6

le forbici
scissors

il gessetto
chalk

la gomma
eraser

l’insegnante
teacher
(both male & female)~

La nostra insegnante parla sempre al suo amico immaginario chiamato

classe. (Anonimo)~

la lavagna
chalkboard

la lettura
reading

la lezione
lesson/lecture

il libro
book

la matematica
mathematics

la materia
subject

Quale materia ti piace di più?

Which subject do you like best?

La mia materia preferita è la storia.

My favorite subject is history.

la pagella
report card

il pastello
crayon

la penna
pen
 7

il quaderno
notebook

il righello
ruler

la scrittura
writing

lo studente
student (male)

la studentessa
student (female)

lo zaino
backpack

VERBS | VERBI

imparare
to learn
insegnare
to teach

leggere
to read

scrivere
to write

studiare
to study

PHRASES | FRASI

andare a lezione (di)

to go to class
Vado a lezione di geometria.
I go/I am going to geometry class.

La frutta in italiano

(Fruit in Italian)
The Italian word frutta is not used in the plural form (it is similar to the collective noun fruit in
English).
What is the difference between la frutta and il frutto?
 8

La frutta usually refers to Fruit(s) in general. It is the generic term for all fruit. It a collective
noun
 Me piace la frutta. (= I like fruit. – Here we are talking about fruit in general, non a
specific piece of fruit)
Il frutto usually refers to a single (type of) fruit from a plant. We can say:
 La mela è un frutto. (The apple is a fruit)

List of fruit in Italian

Here is our list of fruit in Italian with the English translation next to it.

 l’anguria = watermelon
 l’albicocca = apricot
 l’arancia = orange
 l’avocado = avocado
 l’ananas = pineapple
 la banana = banana
 la ciliegia= cherry
 il fico = fig
 la fragola = strawberry
 il frutto della passione = passion fruit
 il kiwi = kiwi
 il lampone = raspberry
 la limetta = lime
 il limone = lemon
 il mandarino = mandarine
 il mango = mango
 la mela = apple
 la mela cotogna = quince
 la melagrana = pomegranate
 il melone = melon
 il mirtillo = blueberry
 il mirtillo rosso (americano) = cranberry
 la mora = blackberry
 la nettarina = nectarine (also pescanoce or nocepesca)
 la noce di cocco = coconut
 la papaia = papaya (you may also see the word written as papaya)
 la pera = pear
 la pesca = peach
 il pomodoro = tomato
 il pompelmo = grapefruit
 la prugna = plum  (also la susina)
 9

 il ribes nero = blackcurrant

 la susina = plum (also la prugna which is more common)
 l’uva = grape

Members of the Family in Italian

Immediate family members in Italian

la famiglia: the family
il padre: father
la madre: mother
il figlio: son
la figlia: daughter
il figlio: children – your son(s) and/or daughter(s)
il marito: husband
la moglie: wife
i genitori: parents
il fratello: brother
la sorella: sister
Children will often call their father papà (= dad) and their mother mamma (=
mum/mom) .

The generic name for parents in Italian is i genitori. Don’t use i parenti which

means relatives  and not parents.

 I nostri genitori abitano a Milano. (My parents live in Spain)

 I nostri parenti abitano a Roma. (Our relatives live in Rome)

Essere figlio unico = To be an only child

sono figlio unico: I am only child (- use this if you are male)
sono figlia unica: I am only child (- use this if you are female)
When we add a possessive adjective (my, your, his… etc.) before the noun (in
this case, the family member word), we also need to add a definite article (il, la =
the) except when it refers to a single family member.
mio fratello: my brother
i miei fratelli: my brothers
 10

mia sorella: my sister

le mie sorelle: my sisters
We will see more about possessive adjectives in another lesson.

Relatives and Extended Family in Spanish

il bisnonno: great grandfather
la bisnonna: great grandmother
i nonni: grandparents
il nonno: grandfather
la nonna: grandmother
i nipoti: grandchildren
il nipote: grandson
la nipote: granddaughter
pronipote: great grandson
pronipote: great granddaughter
Random Fact: I pronipoti (plural of pronipote) also
means descendants. It is also the
name given to the cartoon series “The Jetsons” by Hanna-Barbera
lo zio: tio
la zia: tia
i cugini: cousins
il cugino: cousin (male)
la cugina: cousin (female)
il nipote: nephew
la nipote: niece

The In-Laws in Spanish

The in-laws are the members of the family of your spouse (the person you are
married to) or via a marriage in your family:
il suocero: father-in-law
la suocera: mother-in-law
i suoceri: parents-in-law
il genero: son-in-law
la nuora: daughter-in-law
il cognato: brother-in-law
la cognata: sister-in-law

The Family Mix

 11

In some countries a person gets married more than once. These are the terms
used to describe the “new” members of the family when someone gets
remarried.
il patrigno: stepfather
la matrigna: stepmother
il figliastro: stepson
la figliastra: stepdaughter
il fratellastro: stepbrother
la sorellastra: stepsister

Numbers from 1 to 100 in Italian

We have already seen the numbers from 1 to 10 in Italian.

 1 – uno
 2 – due
 3 – tre
 4 – quattro
 5 – cinque
 6 – sei
 7 – sette
 8 – otto
 9 – nove
 10 – dieci

Now we will take it to the next level…

Numbers from 10 to 20 in Italian
The numbers from 10-20 are mostly irregular so unfortunately you will just have
to learn them by heart.

 10 – dieci
 11 – undici
 12 – dodici
 13 – tredici
 14 – quattordici
 15 – quindici
 16 – sedici
 17 – diciassette
 18 – diciotto
 12

 19 – diciannove
 20 – venti

Numbers from 20 to 100 in Italian

To write the numbers from 20 to 99 in Italian, you just add the single number
(units) to the tens number.

 venti (20) + due (2) = ventidue (22)

 trenta (30) + sette (7) = trentasette (37)
 quaranta (40) + nove (9) = quarantanove (49)

EXCEPTION: when you add the number 1 or 8 to the end.

The final vowel of the tens number disappears when you add uno (1) or otto (8).
 venti (20) + uno (1) = ventuno (21 correct) – not ventiuno  (incorrect)
 venti (20) + otto (8) = ventotto (28 correct) – not ventiotto  (incorrect)
 cinquanta (50) + uno (1) = cinquantuno (21 correct) – not cinquantauno  (incorrect)
 settanta (70) + otto (8) = settantotto (78 correct) – not settantaotto  (incorrect)

EXCEPTION: when you add the number 3 to the end.

When you add the number tre (3) to the end of a tens number, the final vowel
(the e) becomes é (with the accent mark – notice the direction of it) and that final
syllable is stressed.

 ventitré (23)
 trentatré (33)
 ottantatré (83)