How to use the definite articles in Italian
Italian indefinite articles are used to talk about a generic person or thing, or groups of people/things, and you will only find them in the singular.
All indefinite articles in Italian must be placed before the noun. If there is already an adjective before the noun, they go before it.
Un drago vola.
A dragon flies.
Una lepre salta.
A hare jumps.
Uno strano animale nuota.
A strange animal swims.
Genders of indefinite articles in Italian
Italian indefinite articles can be either masculine or feminine, depending on the gender of the noun they introduce.
If the noun is masculine, you must introduce it with a masculine indefinite article. If the noun is feminine, you must introduce it with a feminine indefinite article.
Before diving into each type of article, let’s look at all the possible Italian indefinite articles.
| Article | |
|---|---|
| Masculine | un, uno |
| Feminine | una, un’ |
Drago is a masculine noun, so we have to use either un or uno, which are are the masculine indefinite articles.
Which article do you have to choose between these two? It depends on the noun.
You will find out why in the next section.
Masculine articles
As you can see in the table above, Italian has 2 indefinite masculine articles: UN and UNO.
You choose one or the other depending on the first letter of the word that follows the article.
When to use “un”
UN is used before any masculine noun or adjective that begins with a vowel or a consonant. There are a few exceptions to this rule:
- s+consonant (st-, sp-, sb-, sv-, sc- etc.)
- “sh” sound (sci-, scia-, scio- etc.)
- z-, gn-, ps-, pn-, semi-vowel i and x–
For example, a masculine noun like gatto, cat, becomes un gatto, a cat, because it begins with a g- and this consonant is not among our exceptions.
Un gatto gioca.
A cat plays.
The same thing holds true for many other nouns that begin with a consonant, such as topo, libro or divano.
Un topo squittisce.
A mouse squeaks.
Questo è un libro.
This is a book.
Vedo un divano.
I see a sofa.
Gestisco un hotel.
I manage a hotel.
Questo è un grande giorno.
This is a big day.
| Article | Noun |
|---|---|
| UN | gatto |
| UN | topo |
| UN | libro |
| UN | divano |
| UN | hotel |
| UN | grande giorno |
Of course, it also holds true for all masculine nouns and adjectives that begin with one of the fine Italian vowels: A, E, I, O and U.
Vedo un asino.
I see a donkey.
Un orso dorme.
A bear sleeps.
Un uccello cinguetta.
A bird chirps.
| Article | Noun |
|---|---|
| UN | asino |
| UN | orso |
| UN | uccello |
However, a noun like specchio does not become un specchio because it begins with s+consonant (sp-), which is one of the exceptions to our rule. The same goes for scivolo (sh- sound), zaino (z) and pneumatico.
What about these nouns? Which article should we use? This is where “uno” comes in.
When to use “uno”
UNO is used in front of any masculine noun or adjective that begins with:
- s+consonant (st-, sp-, sb-, sv-, sc- etc.)
- “sh” sound (sci-, scia-, scio- etc.)
- z-, gn-, ps-, pn-, semivowel i and x–
That’s right: these are the same exceptions to the “un” article!
That means specchio becomes uno specchio. And yogurt, which is a word that begins with a semi-vowel (i/y/j+vowel), will become uno yogurt and so on.
Ho rotto uno specchio.
I broke a mirror.
Ho uno zaino rosso.
I have a red backpack.
Conosco uno psicologo.
I know a psychologist.
Mangio uno yogurt.
I eat (a) yogurt.
Questo è uno stretto passaggio.
This is a narrow pathway.
(Un passaggio —> Uno stretto passaggio)
You would normally say un passaggio because passaggio begins with a p-, but we’ve seen that for each of the Italian indefinite articles you have to take into account the first letters of any word immediately following the article.
Stretto, narrow, starts with s+consonant. An adjective is still a word, right? 😉
If there is an adjective before a noun, you have to take into account the first letter of the adjective itself, not the first letter of the noun.
This is why we say: Un passaggio and uno stretto passaggio.
| Article | Noun |
|---|---|
| UNO | specchio |
| UNO | zaino |
| UNO | psicologo |
| UNO | yogurt |
| UNO | stretto passaggio |
Feminine articles
The indefinite articles in Italian for feminine nouns are easy to learn. Again, there are only two of them: UNA and UN’.
When to use “una”
UNA is used for any feminine noun or adjective that begins with:
- a consonant
- semi-vowel i/y/j
- h
- w
For example, a feminine noun like lampada, lamp, becomes una lampada, a lamp.
Compro una lampada.
I buy a lamp.
The noun iena translates to hyena and it begins with a semi-vowel i+vowel. So we’ll say una iena.
You don’t say: un’iena. It sounds terrible!
Una iena ride.
A hyena laughs.
Hall is feminine, so we’ll say una hall.
L’hotel ha una hall gigantesca.
The hotel has a huge hall.
And so on for all the other consonants: sedia, coperta, porta.
Mi siedo su una sedia.
I sit on a chair.
Mi serve una coperta.
I need a blanket.
Sono davanti a una porta.
I’m standing in front of a door.
| Article | Noun |
|---|---|
| UNA | lampada |
| UNA | iena |
| UNA | hall |
| UNA | sedia |
| UNA | coperta |
| UNA | porta |
Now let’s see when you use un’, which is basically the shortened form of una.
When to use “un’ “
UN’ is used in front of any feminine noun or adjective that begins with… you guessed it again, a vowel.
Always remember that the semi-vowel i/y/j behaves like a consonant!
Let’s look at some examples with A, E, I, O and U.
Un’arancia
An orange
Un’epoca
An age
Un’isola
An island
Un’orma
A footprint
Un’unghia
A nail
Una migliore amica
A best female friend
(Un’amica –> Una migliore amica)
| Article | Noun |
|---|---|
| UN’ | arancia |
| UN’ | epoca |
| UN’ | isola |
| UN’ | orma |
| UN’ | unghia |
| UNA | migliore amica |
NEVER use un’ before a masculine noun or adjective that begins with a vowel.
Un amico, un elefante, un orco.
It’s never un’amico, un’elefante, un’orco.
Phew! We have seen all kinds of Italian indefinite articles!
But knowing which articles there are isn’t much use if you don’t know when to use them in a sentence. Do all nouns that refer to a generic person or thing need an indefinite article, or can they get by without one?
When to use the Italian indefinite articles
We have already said that indefinite articles in Italian are used with a generic person or thing. Let me explain this in more detail.
You use Italian indefinite articles to talk about things that haven’t been mentioned before.
Una bambina giocava in giardino.
A little girl was playing in the garden.
Qualcuno mi disse che la bambina si chiamava Anna.
Someone told me that the little girl was called Anna.
In the first sentence, we use the indefinite article because we are introducing an unknown element: a little girl. In the last sentence, we are talking about something we have already mentioned, the little girl, so we use a definite article instead. This behavior is also reflected in English.
Italian indefinite articles and job titles
Unlike English, you can omit the indefinite articles in Italian before a job title.
Sono avvocato.
I’m a lawyer.
Mio padre è contabile.
My father is an accountant.
Forms with an indefinite article are also valid.
Sono un avvocato.
I’m a lawyer.
Mio padre è un contabile.
My father is an accountant.
Beware of sentences with fare. You have to use a definite article with these!
Faccio il pilota per una compagnia aerea.
I’m a pilot for an airline company.
Indefinite articles and quantifiers
You don’t need to use any articles to translate the quantifiers a few (alcuni/qualche) and a lot of (molti).
La polizia arrivò alcuni minuti più tardi.
The police arrived a few minutes later.
Abbiamo bevuto molta birra ieri sera.
We drank a lot of beer last night.
Indefinite articles with numbers
Unlike English, Italian doesn’t use articles with cento, a hundred, and mille, a thousand.
La tazza si sfracellò in mille pezzi.
The mug shattered into a thousand pieces.
Neanche cento persone sono andate al concerto.
Not even a hundred people went to the concert.
Indefinite articles and what a…!
You don’t have to use an article in Italian with what a…! exclamations.
Che giornata!
What a day!
Che bella vista!
What a beautiful view!
Aside from these differences, the Italian indefinite articles behave very much like the English indefinite articles a/an. If you should use a/an in English, you should do so in Italian too. Just make sure you choose the correct article in Italian.
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