Articles in Italian
Articles in linguistics are grammatical items that indicate definiteness or indefiniteness and are, therefore, used to convey a degree of specificity about nouns.
Italian articles agree in gender and number with the nouns they refer to and can be divided into two main groups: indefinite articles, which I will discuss here, and definite articles.
Indefinite Articles in Italian
Indefinite articles (articoli indeterminativi) introduce general nouns or concepts. They are the generic counterpart of definite articles and can be translated into English with “a”/”an”.
Just like definite articles, they change depending on the gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) of the noun, and sometimes also depending on its first letter.
Here is an overview of how these articles are used in Italian:
- Uno (used just for singular masculine nouns beginning with z, gn, ps, or s+consonant): uno zaino (a backpack).
- Un (used for all other singular masculine nouns beginning with a vowel, and with the other consonants): un amico (a friend)
For singular and feminine nouns and adjectives we use:
- Una(used for all singular feminine nouns beginning with a consonant): una matita (a pencil)
- Un’ (used for all singular feminine nouns beginning with a vowel): un’amica (a female friend)
Italian Indefinite Articles Chart
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | Uno studente (student), uno specchio (mirror), uno zaino (backpack), uno psicologo (psychologist) | Una borsa (bag), una casa (house), una studentessa (student), una psicologa (psychologist) |
| Un cameriere (waiter), un bicchiere(glass), un libro (book) | Un’ ape (bee), un’ attrice (actress), un‘insegnante (female teacher) | |
| Un amore (love), un insegnante (male teacher), un uomo (man) | ||
| Plural | Dei camerieri (waiters), dei libri (books) | Delle borse (bags), delle case (houses), delle studentesse (students) |
| Degli insegnanti (teachers), degli uomini (men), degli zaini (backpacks) |
When to use Indefinite Articles?
Let me now show you the contexts where you should use indefinite articles:
- To introduce a new topic not previously mentioned:
Maria ha un gatto.
Il suo gatto è bellissimo!
Maria has a cat.
Her cat is beautiful!
- To introduce general or non-specific nouns:
Vuoi una fetta di torta?
Would you like a slice of cake?
- To refer to groups, categories, or species:
Un leone mangia circa 14 chili di carne al giorno.
A lion eats about 14 kilos of meat per day.
- To talk about professions with the verb essere:
Lei è una professoressa.
She is a professor.
Notice that if you use the verb fare to talk about professions, you must use a definite article.
Lei fa la professoressa.
Important to Remember!
Indefinite articles in Italian are used to generalize about items, people, and topics and are similar to the English “a” and “an”. However, while English indefinite articles vary only depending on the noun spellings, Italian indefinite articles change depending on noun gender and number as well.
Something many people often get mistaken – Italian native speakers included – is the use of un’. Remember this claim and try not to make this mistake: un’ is used with feminine words only!
Now you have read everything you need to know about Italian indefinite articles. The next step is to practice!
