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Gli articoli
One of the eight Italian parts of speech, an article is a word that modifies a noun in a particular way, by stating whether the noun is specific, unspecific, or partial. There are three types of Italian articles and they all agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify.
1) Definite / Definito
The definite article indicates that the speaker is referring to either a specific noun or to a class of nouns in a general sense. The English definite article, the, has seven equivalent forms in Italian, depending on the gender and number of the noun as well as what letter it begins with.
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Masculine | il | il libro | the book | i | i libri | the books | |
| Complex sound | lo | lo zaino | the backpack | gli | gli zaini | the backpacks | |
| Masc w/ vowel | l’ | l’occhio | the eye | gli | gli occhi | the eyes | |
| Feminine | la | la sedia | the chair | le | le sedie | the chairs | |
| Fem w/ vowel | l’ | l’uscita | the exit | le | le uscite | the exits | |
Learn more about definite articles
2) Indefinite / Indefinito
The indefinite article indicates that the speaker is referring to either an unspecific noun or to one/some of something. The English indefinite article has two forms, a and an, while the Italian again has seven, depending on the gender, number, and first letter of the noun.
The English equivalent of the plural indefinite is some, which is considered an adjective rather than an article.
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Masculine | un | un libro | a book | dei | dei libri | some books | |
| Complex sound | uno | uno zaino | a backpack | degli | degli zaini | some backpacks | |
| Masc w/ vowel | un | un occhio | an eye | degli | degli occhi | some eyes | |
| Feminine | una | una sedia | a chair | delle | des tables | some tables | |
| Fem w/ vowel | un’ | un’uscita | an exit | delle | delle uscite | some exits | |
Learn more about indefinite articles
3) Partitive / Partitivo
The partitive article indicates that the speaker is referring to only a portion or some of an uncountable noun, often food or drink. There are once again seven forms in Italian, depending on the gender and number of the noun as well as what letter it begins with.
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Masculine | del | del burro | some butter | dei | dei compiti | some homework | |
| Complex sound | dello | dello yogurt | some yogurt | degli | degli spinaci | some spinach | |
| Masc w/ vowel | dell’ | dell’aglio | some garlic | degli | delgi affari | some business | |
| Feminine | della | della torta | some pie | delle | delle notizie | some news | |
| Fem w/ vowel | dell’ | dell’acqua | some water | delle | delle informazioni | some information | |
Learn more about partitive articles
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Ciao! I’m Laura K Lawless, creator, writer, editor, and CLO (Chief Lawless Officer) of this free online Italian learning site. Lawless Italian is an official Lawless Languages site.
