Italian Definite and Indefinite Articles

Flashcards covering Italian articles and gendered nouns.

Masculine singular definite article for words starting with most consonants (Masculine singular:

• il → before most consonants

  (ex. il libro – the book)

• lo → before s + consonant, z, ps, gn, etc.

  (ex. lo zaino – the backpack)

• l’ → before vowels

  (ex. l’amico – the (male) friend)

il

Masculine singular definite article for words starting with z, s+ consonant, ps, gn (Masculine singular:

• il → before most consonants

  (ex. il libro – the book)

• lo → before s + consonant, z, ps, gn, etc.

  (ex. lo zaino – the backpack)

• l’ → before vowels

  (ex. l’amico – the (male) friend)

lo

Feminine singular definite article for words starting with a consonant (Feminine singular:

• una → before consonants

  (ex. una ragazza – a girl)

• un’ → before vowels

  (ex. un’amica – a (female) friend)

🔸 No plural form of indefinite articles exists. You use partitive constructions instead (like dei, degli, delle = “some”).

la

Definite article for both masculine and feminine nouns starting with a vowel

l'

Plural form of il

i

Plural form of lo and l' (masculine)

gli

Plural form of la and l' (feminine)

le

Masculine singular indefinite article for most consonants and vowels (Masculine singular:

• il → before most consonants

  (ex. il libro – the book)

• lo → before s + consonant, z, ps, gn, etc.

  (ex. lo zaino – the backpack)

• l’ → before vowels

  (ex. l’amico – the (male) friend)

un

Masculine singular indefinite article for words starting with z, s+ consonant, ps, gn (Masculine singular:

• il → before most consonants

  (ex. il libro – the book)

• lo → before s + consonant, z, ps, gn, etc.

  (ex. lo zaino – the backpack)

• l’ → before vowels

  (ex. l’amico – the (male) friend)

uno

Feminine singular indefinite article before a consonant (Feminine singular:

• una → before consonants

  (ex. una ragazza – a girl)

• un’ → before vowels

  (ex. un’amica – a (female) friend)

🔸 No plural form of indefinite articles exists. You use partitive constructions instead (like dei, degli, delle = “some”).

una

Feminine singular indefinite article before a vowel (Feminine singular:

• una → before consonants

  (ex. una ragazza – a girl)

• un’ → before vowels

  (ex. un’amica – a (female) friend)

🔸 No plural form of indefinite articles exists. You use partitive constructions instead (like dei, degli, delle = “some”).

un'

Is libro masculine or feminine?

Masculine

Is casa masculine or feminine?

Feminine

What does una ragazza mean?

A girl

What does gli amici mean?

The friends (masculine or mixed)