How to Use Italian Definite Article Forms

The Italian definite article (articolo determinativo) indicates something well defined, which is assumed to be already acknowledged. If, for example, someone asks: Hai visto il professore? (Have you seen the professor?) they are alluding not to any professor, but to one in particular, that both the speaker and listener know. The definite article is also used to indicate a group (luomo à ¨ dotato di ragione, that is, ogni uomo—man is endowed with reason, every man), or to express the abstract (la pazienza à ¨ una gran virtà ¹Ã¢â‚¬â€patience is a great virtue); to indicate parts of the body (mi fa male la testa, il braccio—my head hurts, my arm), to refer to objects that belong strictly to oneself mi hanno rubato il portafogli, non trovo pià ¹ le scarpe—they stole my wallet, I cannot find my shoes), and is also used with nouns that signify something unique in nature (il sole, la luna, la terra—the sun, the moon, the earth) and the names of materials and matter (il grano, loro—wheat, gold). In certain contexts the Italian definite article functions as a demonstrative adjective (aggettivo dimostrativo): Penso di finire entro la settimana—I think Ill finish by the end of the week (or later this week); Sentitelo lipocrita!—Listen to him the hypocrite! (this hypocrite!) or a demonstrative pronoun (pronome dimostrativo): Tra i due vini scelgo il rosso—Between the two wines I choose the red, (the one thats red); Dei due attori preferisco il pià ¹ giovane—Of the two actors I prefer the younger (the one thats younger). The Italian definite article may also refer to individual members of a group: Ricevo il giovedà ¬Ã¢â‚¬â€I receive it Thursday (every Thursday); Costa mille euro il chilo (or al chilo)—It costs a thousand euro a kilogam (per kilogram), or time: Partirà ² il mese prossimo.—Im leaving next month (in next the month). Italian Definite Article FormsIl, iThe form il precedes masculine nouns beginning with a consonant except s consonant, z, x, pn, ps, and the digraphs gn and sc: il bambino, il cane, il dente, il fiore, il gioco, il liquorethe child, the dog, the tooth, the flower, the game, the liquor The corresponding form for the plural is i: i bambini, i cani, i denti, i fiori, i giochi, i liquorithe children, the dogs, the teeth, the flowers, the games, the liqueurs Lo (l), gliThe form lo precedes masculine nouns that begin: with s followed by another consonant: lo sbaglio, lo scandalo, lo sfratto, lo sgabello, lo slittino, lo smalto, lo specchio, lo studiothe mistake, the scandal, the evicted, the stool, the sled, the enamel, the mirror, the office with z: lo zaino, lo zio, lo zoccolo, lo zuccherothe backpack, the uncle, the clog, the sugar with x: lo xilofono, lo xilografothe xylophone, the engraver with pn and ps: lo pneumatico, lo pneumotorace; lo pseudonimo, lo psichiatra, lo psicologothe tire, the collapsed lung, the pseudonym, the psychiatrist, the psychologist with the digraphs gn and sc: lo gnocco, lo gnomo, fare lo gnorri; lo sceicco, lo sceriffo, lo scialle, lo scimpanzà ©the dumpling, the gnome, to play dumb; the sheikh, the sheriff, the shawl, the chimpanzee with the semivowel i: lo iato, lo iettatore, lo ioduro, lo yogurtthe hiatus, the evil eye, the iodide, the yogurt NOTE: Nevertheless, there are variations, especially before the consonant cluster pn; for example, in contemporary spoken Italian il pneumatico tends to prevail over lo pneumatico. Also, before the semivowel i the use is not constant; in addition to lo iato there is liato, but the elided form is less common. When preceding the semivowel u, its necessary to distinguish between Italian words, which take the article lo in the elided form (luomo, luovo), and words of foreign origin, which take the form il: il week-end, il whisky, il windsurf, il walkman, il word processorthe weekend, the whiskey, the windsurfer, the Walkman, the word processor. With plural nouns the forms gli (gli uomini) and i (i walkman, i week-end) are used respectively. For words starting with h use lo (gli, uno) when preceding an aspirated h: lo Hegel, lo Heine, lo hardwarethe Hegel, the Heine, the hardware. And use l when preceding a non-aspirated h: lhabitat, lharem, lhashishthe habitat, the harem, the hashish. NOTE: In contemporary colloquial Italian there is a preference for the elided form in all cases, since even foreign words with an aspirated h (for example the aforementioned hardware, as well as hamburgers, handicap, hobbies, etc.) usually have an Italianized pronunciation in which the h is muted. However, in adverbial phrases the form lo (instead of il) is common: per lo pià ¹, per lo meno, corresponding to the use of the definite article in early Italian. The form lo also precedes masculine nouns that begin with a vowel, but in this instance it is elided to l: labito, levaso, lincendio, lospite, lusignolothe dress, the fugitive, the fire, the guest, the nightingale. As previously noted, before the semivowel i there is typically no elision. The form corresponding to lo in the plural is gli: gli sbagli, gli zaini, gli xilofoni, gli (or also i) pneumatici, gli pseudonimi, gli gnocchi, gli sceicchi, gli iati, gli abiti, gli evasi, gli incendi, gli ospiti, gli usignoli NOTE: Gli can only be elided before i: glincendi (but more frequently the entire form is used). The gli form is used instead of i before the plural of dio: gli dà ¨i (in obsolete Italian gliddei, plural of iddio). La (l), leThe form la precedes feminine nouns starting with a consonant or the semivowel i: la bestia, la casa, la donna, la fiera, la giacca, la ienathe beast, the house, the woman, the fair, the jacket, the hyena. Before a vowel la is elided to l: lanima, lelica, lisola, lombra, lunghiathe soul, the propeller, the island, the shadow, the fingernail. The form corresponding to la in the plural is lei: le bestie, le case, le donne, le fiere, le giacche, le iene, le anime, le eliche, le isole, le ombre, le unghiethe animals, the houses, the women, the fairs, the jackets, the hyenas, the souls, the propellers, the islands, the shadows, the nails. Le may be elided only before the letter e (but this happens rarely, and almost always as a stylistic device in poetry): leliche—the propellers. With nouns starting with h, unlike the masculine form, the non-elided form predominates: la hall—the hall, la holding—the holding company.