How to use the apostrophe in Italian
The apostrophe sign (‘) replaces certain letters in a word to join two words together. Think of the English expressions it is and it’s. When elision occurs, an apostrophe is added in Italian.
What is elision? If you have a word that ends with an unstressed vowel, such as the indefinite article una, you can cut off that vowel if the following word also begins with a vowel, such as amica.
Un’amica
A female friend
However, elision is not always necessary, and sometimes it is downright wrong to use it. Let’s see why in the next section.
When to use the apostrophe in Italian
| You use the apostrophe… |
| Before feminine nouns beginning with a vowel |
| Indefinite adjectives ending in -una |
| Before lo and la, quello and quella |
| Before ci + some conjugations of the verb to be |
| In some common expressions |
Elision is mandatory before una when it precedes a word beginning with a vowel.
Un’etichetta
A label
Un’oca
A goose
It is also required with indefinite adjectives ending in -una, such as ciascuna or nessuna. The following word must always begin with a vowel.
Nessun’isola
No islands
The apostrophe in Italian is required before the definite articles lo and la and the demonstrative adjectives quello and quella.
L’esame, quell’esame
The exam, that exam
(Lo esame)
L’ape, quell’ape
The bee, that bee
(La ape)
It is mandatory before ci + conjugations of the verb to be beginning with e-, such as era, è or erano.
C’era, which translates into the English sentence there was, is actually the elision of ci era. However, you NEVER write it as ci era.
C’è
There is
You always use an apostrophe in Italian in common expressions such as nient’altro, tra l’altro or quarto d’ora.
Nient’altro
Nothing else
Quarto d’ora
Quarter of an hour
When NOT to use the apostrophe in Italian
| You do NOT use the apostrophe… |
| With un and uno, nessuno or qualcuno |
| Before words that begin with a semi-vowel |
| Before ci when translating “us”, unless in front of an -i |
| In front of the pronouns le and li |
Elision in Italian is never used with the indefinite articles un and uno and with the indefinite adjectives such as nessuno or qualcuno, even if the last vowel is dropped.
Un esame
An exam
Nessun elefante
No elephants
Qualcun altro
Someone else
The apostrophe in Italian is also not allowed before words that begin with a semi-vowel, such as iena. Even if the definite article is la, it is never l’iena and always la iena.
La iena
The hyena
It is also never used before the definite articles le and gli.
Le oche
The geese
Gli alberi
The trees
The apostrophe in Italian is also never used before ci when translating “us”, unless the following word begins with i-.
Ci amiamo
We love each other
Ci ascoltate
You listen to us
Ci interrogano, c’interrogano
They interrogate us
The apostrophe is not allowed in front of the pronouns le and li.
Le amo
I love them
Li odio
I hate them
Special cases
Poco can be shortened to po’, with an apostrophe. It’s never written as pò.
Un po’ di zucchero
A little sugar
Quale è is shortened to to qual è, never as qual’è.
Qual è il tuo colore preferito?
What is your favorite color?
An apostrophe can also be used to cut off the first part of the years in the 20th century.
Negli anni ’80 lavoravo come operaio.
In the 1980s I worked as a factory worker.
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