The rules for indefinite articles
A few days ago, I wrote out a blog post covering the rules for forming definite articles in Italian.
Let's briefly review:
Singular nouns
- Il - Most masculine nouns that start with consonants.
- Lo - Masculine nouns that start with a s+consonant, z, y, ps, pn, gn, x
- La - Feminine nouns that start with consonants.
- L' - All nouns that start with vowels.
Plural nouns
- I - Most masculine nouns that start with a consonant (e.g., the plural of "Il")
- Gli - Masculine nouns that start with a vowel, s+consonant, z, y, ps, pn, gn, x.
- Le - All feminine nouns.
How does it work for indefinite articles?
Indefinite articles are words used to refer to non-specific items or entities in a sentence. In English, the indefinite articles are "a" and "an."
The great news is that Italian indefinite articles follow similar patterns as definite articles.
When describing masculine nouns
- Un - Most nouns that begin with a vowel or a consonant (except for s+consonant, z, y, ps, pn, gn, x).
- Un uomo (a man)
- Un libro (a book)
- Uno - Nouns that begin with s+consonant, z, y, ps, pn, gn, x.
- Uno studente (a student)
- Uno zaino (a backpack)
- Uno psicologo (a psychologist)
When describing feminine nouns
- Una - Nouns that begin with a consonant.
- Una donna (a woman)
- Una casa (a house)
- Un' - Nouns that begin with a vowel. The apostrophe replaces the "a" in "una."
- Un’amica (a female friend)
- Un’idea (an idea)
Idiom of the day
Acqua in bocca.
Literally "Water in the mouth." This idiom is used when you tell someone a secret and you want them to zip their lips.