Definite Articles

1
Definite Articles

• How to use Definite Articles in Italiano.

2
What is a Definite Article?

• A Definite Article is the the before a noun.
• Every noun has a specific definite article.
• Definite articles are decided by the gender and
  number of the noun.
• Every noun has a gender, masculine and
  feminine. The best way to decide the gender of a
  noun is by the last letter or the definite
  article.
• o i masculine
• a e feminine.

3
List of Definite Articles

• Singular Plural
• Masculine
• il - i
• lo - gli
• l - gli
• Feminine
• la - le
• l - le

4
When do you use each?

• Masculine Definite Articles (in the singular)
• il used with masculine nouns beginning with a
  consonant.
• ex il ragazzo, il professore
• lo used with nouns beginning with z, s plus a
  consonant, ps, or gn.
• ex lo studente, lo zero, lo psicologo
• l is used with nouns, masculine or feminine,
  beginning with a vowel.
• ex lamico, lorologio, lamica, luniversità

5
Making Masculine Articles Plural

• When the noun becomes plural, the article must
  change as well.
• il becomes i
• ex. i ragazzi, I professori
• lo becomes gli
• ex. gli studenti, gli zeri
• l (in the masculine) becomes gli
• ex. gli amici, gli orologi

6
When do you use each?

• Feminine Definite Articles (in the singular)
• la used with the singular feminine nouns
• ex. La ragazza
• la scuola
• la casa
• l used for both masculine and feminine for any
  noun starting with a vowel.
• ex lamica, lisola

7
Making Feminine Articles Plural

• When making feminine articles plural, it is very
  simple.
• Both la and l become le when they are
  pluralized.
• la becomes le
• ex. Le ragazze, le scuole
• l becomes le
• ex. Le amiche, le isole

8
Adesso, è toca voi!

• Write in the definite article of each word.
• ____ orologio _____ bandiera
• ____ studenti _____ professoressa
• ____ cestino _____ bacheca
• ____ professore _____ amica
• ____ ragazzo _____ quaderni
• ____ banco _____ Signorina
• ____ libro _____ pianta

9
Gender of Nouns

• What is a noun?
• a person, place or thing
• In Italiano, nouns are either Masculine or
  Feminine
• Masculine
• in the singular ends in o and becomes an i
  when it is pluralized.
• Feminine
• in the singular, usually ends in a and
  becomes an e when pluralized.
• When a noun ends in an e in the singular it
  can be either masculine or feminine, and you need
  to memorize which ones are which.

10
Esempi dei nomi

• Examples of Nouns
• il ragazzo the boy i ragazzi _________
• la ragazza the girl le ragazze _______
• il libro the book i libri ____________
• la lavagna the blackboard
• le lavagne _______