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)
uno studente
uno zaino
 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)
Un albero
un libro
Articolo indeterminativo
(indefinite article)
one or a/an= un; uno; un’; una
Feminine 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
ragazzo
 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.)
classe (f.)
studentessa
cane
ragazzi
studentesse
cani
cani
classi
classe
classi
Articolo determinativo
(Definite article)
The: il; l’; lo; i; gli;
The masculine singular definite article has 3 forms:
We use l’ before nouns that begin with a vowel
we 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 and
we use i before all other consonants.
Masculine
singular
il libro
l’ orologio
lo studente
lo zaino
plural
i libri
gli orologi
gli studenti
gli zaini
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 vowel
we use la before all other consonant.
The femenine plural definite article has 1 form:
We use le before all nouns.
Feminine
singular
plural
la penna
l’arancia
le penne
le arance