Italian Practice

Buy THE EVERYTHING ITALIAN PRACTICE BOOK

Definite Articles by Ronald Glenn Wrigley, M.A.

Forming the definite article (corresponds to the word “the” in English) is a bit more complicated. There are seven forms of the definite article in Italian — il, l', lo, i, gli (masculine), and la, l', le (feminine). In order to determine the correct form of the definite article, look at the initial letter, the gender (masculine or feminine), and number (singular or plural) of the noun that the definite article precedes.

<tgroup cols="3"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="36%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="32%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="32%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <thead> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>If the word is masculine, and the first letter of the word is…</emphasis></p></td> <entry valign="top"><p><emphasis>Singular</emphasis></p></td> <entry valign="top"><p><emphasis>Plural</emphasis></p></td> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>…a consonant (other than s or z)</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>il lago</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>i laghi</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>…a vowel</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>l'amico</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>gli amici</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>…s + consonant</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>lo studente</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>gli studenti</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>…z</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>lo zero</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>gli zeri</emphasis></p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <table frame="all" width="100%"> <h2>If the word is feminine, and the first letter of the word is…</h2> <tgroup cols="3"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="36%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="32%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="32%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>…a consonant</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>la ragazza</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>le ragazze</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>…a vowel</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>l'amica</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>le amiche</emphasis></p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <h2>Exercise 7: Articles and Nouns</h2> <div class="npmo"> <img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/np/italian-practice/track.jpg"> <div class="npcp"><p>TRACK 3</p></div> </div> <p>Listen to Track 3 and repeat aloud the singular articles and nouns. Then listen again, writing down what you hear. Finally, go back and write the plural forms of the articles and nouns.</p> <table frame="all" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="2"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <thead> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>Noun</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>Plural</emphasis></p></td> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>1. </p></td> <td><p></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>2. </p></td> <td><p></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>3. </p></td> <td><p></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>4. </p></td> <td><p></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>5. </p></td> <td><p></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>6. </p></td> <td><p></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>7. </p></td> <td><p></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>8. </p></td> <td><p></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>9. </p></td> <td><p></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>10. </p></td> <td><p></p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table>  <div id="pagination"><ul><li class="prev"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/nouns-articles-and-adjectives/indefinite-articles.htm" title="Indefinite Articles">Indefinite Articles</a></li><li class="next"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/nouns-articles-and-adjectives/adjectives.htm" title="Adjectives">Adjectives</a> </li></ul></div></div> <div id="coda"> <div id="rel"><div class="n5">Related Articles</div><ul> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/nouns-articles-and-adjectives/definite-articles.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Definite Articles - Italian Practice </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-phrases/introduction-to-italian/definite-and-indefinite-articles.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Definite and Indefinite Articles - Italian Phrases </a></li> <li><a href="http://italian.about.com/library/fare/blfare110a.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Italian Definite Article - Articolo Determinativo </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/learning-italian/grammar-basics-nouns-articles-and-adjectives/introduction-to-articles.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Introduction to Articles - Learning Italian </a></li> <li><a href="http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/articles_2.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> French Articles - Articles français </a></li> </ul></div> <div id="sec"><div class="n5">Read More Nouns, Articles, and Adjectives</div><ul><ul class="col1"><li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/nouns-articles-and-adjectives/common-nouns-versus-proper-nouns.htm">Common Nouns Versus Proper Nouns</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/nouns-articles-and-adjectives/masculine-and-feminine-nouns.htm">Masculine and Feminine Nouns</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/nouns-articles-and-adjectives/nouns-in-the-plural.htm">Nouns in the Plural</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/nouns-articles-and-adjectives/indefinite-articles.htm">Indefinite Articles</a></li> <li class="btO">Definite Articles</li> </ul><ul class="col2"><li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/nouns-articles-and-adjectives/adjectives.htm">Adjectives</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/nouns-articles-and-adjectives/quantifying-words.htm">Quantifying Words</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/nouns-articles-and-adjectives/lets-practice.htm">Let's Practice</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/nouns-articles-and-adjectives/pronunciation-exercise-the-accented-final-vowel.htm">Pronunciation Exercise: The Accented Final Vowel</a></li> </ul></ul></div> </div> <script>if(zSbL<1)zSbL=3;zSB(2);zSbL=0</script> </div> <div id="widgets"><script type="text/javascript">if(z336>0){w('<div id="adB">'+ap[0]+at[4]+as[0]);adunit('','','about.com',ch,gs,336,280,'1','bb',3);w('</div>')}if(z155>0){w('<div id="adP">'+ap[0]+at[4]+as[0]);adunit('','','about.com',ch,gs,336,155,'1','ps',4);w('</div>')}</script> <div id="pg" class="pane"><div class="n3">Shopping</div><div class="cntnr"><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-italian-practice-book-with-cd"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/np/italian-practice/Cover.jpg"></a><h4><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-italian-practice-book-with-cd">THE EVERYTHING ITALIAN PRACTICE BOOK</a></h4><p><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-italian-practice-book-with-cd">By Ronald Glenn Wrigley, M.A.</a></p><div id="fp"><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-italian-practice-book-with-cd">Buy This Book</a></div></div></div> <div id="toc" class="pane"><div class="n3">Italian Practice Sections</div><ul><li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/top-ten-reasons-to-practice-your-italian/">Top 10 Reasons to Practice Your Italian</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/nouns-articles-and-adjectives/">Nouns, Articles, and Adjectives</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/subject-pronouns-avere-and-essere/">Subject Pronouns, Avere and Essere</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/first-conjugation-verbs-prepositions-and-telling-time/">First Conjugation Verbs, Prepositions, and Telling Time</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/second-and-third-conjugation-verbs-and-adverbs/">Second and Third Conjugation Verbs and Adverbs</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/reflexive-and-reciprocal-verbs-possessives-and-the-present-progressive/">Reflexive and Reciprocal Verbs, Possessives, and the Present Progressive</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/indirect-and-direct-object-pronouns-demonstrative-adjectives/">Indirect and Direct Object Pronouns, Demonstrative Adjectives</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/the-impersonal-si-piacere-commands/">The Impersonal Si, Piacere, Commands</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/the-passato-prossimo-and-the-imperfetto/">The Passato Prossimo and the Imperfetto</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/the-future-tense-the-conditional-mood-and-the-subjunctive/">The Future Tense, the Conditional Mood, and the Subjunctive</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/the-final-exam/">The Final Exam</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/appendix-a-verb-tables/">Italian Verb Tables</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/appendix-d-answer-key/">Answer Key</a></li> </ul></div></div> <script type="text/javascript">zCi();validateForms();</script> <div id="abf" style="padding-right:0"><ol class="crumbtrail"><li class="home"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/">Home</a></li><li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/">Italian Practice</a></li><li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/nouns-articles-and-adjectives/">Nouns, Articles, and Adjectives</a></li><li>Definite Articles</li></ol></div> <div id="aboutinfo" class="hlist"><div id="morefrom"><h6>Visit other About.com sites:</h6><ul><li><a href="http://caloriecount.about.com/" rel="nofollow">Calorie Count</a></li><li class="last"><a href="http://www.allexperts.com/" rel="nofollow">Allexperts.com</a></li></ul></div> <ul id="siteinfo"><li><a href="http://spiderbites.about.com/sitemap.htm">SiteMap</a></li><li><a href="http://www.about.com/gi/pages/hc.htm" rel="nofollow">Help</a></li><li><a href="http://www.about.com/gi/pages/mprivacy.htm" rel="nofollow">Privacy Policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.about.com/gi/pages/mprivacy.htm#adchoices" rel="nofollow">Your Ad Choices</a></li><li class="last"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/pform.htm" rel="nofollow">Contact Us</a></li></ul> <ul id="companyinfo"><li class="last"><a href="http://shop.everything.com/ " rel="nofollow">Buy Books</a></li></ul><div id="disclaimer"> </div></div></div> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript">(function(){var po=document.createElement('script');po.type='text/javascript';po.async=true;po.src='https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js';var s=document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(po,s)})();</script> </body></html>