Maschile o femminile(Gender: masculine or feminine)

In Italian nouns have gender: they are either masculine or feminine.

Most nouns ending in –o are masculine.Most nouns ending in –a are feminine.Nouns ending in –e are either masculine or feminine.Nouns ending in –ione, like televisione are feminine.Nouns ending in a consonant, like sport, are usually masculine.

bambino bambina

Articolo indeterminativo(indefinite article)

one or a/an= un; uno; un’; una In Italian the indefinite article a/an has

different forms according to the gender and the first letter of the noun that follow.

Masculine nouns We use uno if the noun is masculine

and if the first letter is s + consonant or z like:uno studente (a student)

uno zaino(a backpack)

We use un if the noun is masculine and if the first letter is a consonant or a vowel:un albero (a tree)un libro (a book)

uno studente uno zaino

Un albero un libro

Articolo indeterminativo(indefinite article)

one or a/an= un; uno; un’; unaFeminine nouns

We use una if the noun is feminine and if the first letter is a consonant like:

una studentessa(a female student)

We use un’ if the noun is feminine and if the first letter is a vowel:

un’ amica (a girlfriend)

Singolare e plurale(Number: singular and plural)

In Italian masculine nouns that end in –o in the singular, end in –i in the plural:

ragazzo ragazzi

Feminine nouns that end in –a in the singular form, end in –e in the plural:

studentessa studentesse

Masculine and feminine nouns that end in –e in the singular form, end in –i in the plural:

cane (m.) cani

classe (f.) classi

ragazzo ragazzi

studentessa studentesse

cane cani

classe classi

Articolo determinativo(Definite article)The: il; l’; lo; i; gli;

singular plural

Masculine

il libro

l’ orologio

lo studente

lo zaino

i libri

gli orologi

gli studenti

gli zaini

The masculine singular definite article has 3 forms: We use l’ before nouns that begin with a vowelwe use lo before nouns that begin with s + consonant or z and we use il before all other consonant.

The masculine plural definite article has 2 forms:We use gli before nouns that begin with a vowel, s + consonant, or z andwe use i before all other consonants.

Articolo determinativo(Definite article)

The: la; l’; le

The feminine singular definite article has 2 forms: We use l’ before nouns that begin with a vowelwe use la before all other consonant.

The femenine plural definite article has 1 form:We use le before all nouns.

singular plural

Feminine la penna

l’arancia

le penne

le arance