And here we are again! Let’s start today with another cornerstone of Italian grammar: the Italian Articles are always linked to nouns so it’s easy to remember them and also to expand your Italian vocabulary!
As regards Italian pronunciation of articles, they are quite easy to pronounce but very difficult to link with nouns (it’s not easy to understand if a noun is feminine or masculine).
- For example: the article LA is pronounced in the same way as LA in cLAssification.
The Italian article can be defined as an “accessory” and is always linked to the noun to which it refers and from which it takes its type and number.
Shortly, I would almost say that the article and the word are linked by an infinite love!
To start, like every element that is a part of speech, the articles have their own categorization too.
The Italian Articles are divided into 3 categories:
DEFINITE ARTICLES, INDEFINITE ARTICLES, PARTITIVE ARTICLES
First of all, definite articles refer to a specific noun.
| The masculine singular of the definite article is IL / LO | il cane – il marito / the dog – the husband – lo zucchero / the sugar – lo sport / the sport – l’ombrello / the umbrella – lo gnomo / the dwarf – lo iodio / the iodine |
| The feminine singular of the definite article is LA | la casa / the house – la mamma / the mother |
| The masculine plural of the definite article is I/GLI | i cani/the dogs – gli animali/the animals |
| The feminine plural of definite article is LE | le mani/ the hands – le case/the houses |
| The masculine singular of the indefinite article is UN / UNO | un cane / a dog – uno sport / a sport |
| The feminine singular of the indefinite article is UNA | una casa / a home – una donna / a woman |
Plus, it is very important to know that in Italian vocabulary and grammar the plural of indefinite articles does not exist, just like in English where you can’t have a plural of ‘a’ or ‘an’.
And now let’s move on to partitive articles!
First of all, you just need to know that they refer to an undetermined quantity.
| Singular partitive articles refer to uncountable nouns and indicate while in the plural they are expressed with | un po’ di – a little bit of alcuni / e – some |
| The masculine partitive article is DEL/DELLO and the plural is DEI/DEGLI | del pane / some bread – del vino / some wine – dei limoni / some lemons – dei cani / some dogs – dello zucchero / some sugar – dello strudel / some strudel – degli armadi / some cabinets – degli stracci / some rags |
| The feminine partitive article is DELLA and the plural is DELLE | della frutta / some fruit – della crema /some cream – delle mele / some apples – delle caramelle / some candies |
Every time you have to choose which Italian article to use, I suggest you consult an Italian vocabulary! Theory is important but it can also be difficult to learn so it’s best to move on to practice!
Here is a video for an in-depth look at the articles
Ok, at first glance everything sounds very confusing but pay attention: the only way to learn Italian articles is to read and to practice.
Each grammar rule is easier to remember when put into context.