The indefinite article - ARTICLES - Easy Learning Italian Grammar

Easy Learning Italian Grammar (2011)

ARTICLES

5. The indefinite article

1 The basics

In English the indefinite article is either a – a boy - or an - an apple.

In Italian there are four indefinite articles: un, uno, una and un’.

Which one you need to choose depends on the gender of the noun it goes with, and the letter the noun starts with.

For more information on Nouns, see page 1.

2 Which indefinite article do you use?

The indefinite article to use for masculine nouns is:

un with nouns starting with most consonants and all vowels.

un cellulare	a mobile phone
un uomo	a man

uno with nouns starting with z, s + another consonant, z, gn, pn, ps, x and y.

uno studente	a student
uno zio	an uncle
uno psichiatra	a psychiatrist

The indefinite article to use for feminine nouns is:

una with nouns starting with a consonant.

una ragazza	a girl
una mela	an apple

un’ with nouns starting with a vowel.

un’ora	an hour
un’amica	a (girl)friend

Note that the article you choose depends on the first or first two letters of the following word, which can be an adjective or a noun.

un albergo	a hotel
BUT
uno splendido albergo	a magnificent hotel
uno scultore	a sculptor
BUT
un bravo scultore	a good sculptor

3 Using the indefinite article

You generally use the indefinite article in Italian when a or an are used in English.

Era con un’amica.	She was with a friend.
Vuoi un gelato?	Do you want an ice cream?

There are some cases where the article is used in English, but not in Italian:

with the words cento and mille

cento volte	a hundred times
mille sterline	a thousand pounds

when you translate a few or a lot

qualche parola	a few words
molti soldi	a lot of money

in exclamations with che

Che sorpresa!	What a surprise!
Che peccato!	What a pity!

Note that to say what someone’s job is you either leave out the article:

È medico.	He’s a doctor.
Sono professori.	They’re teachers.

Or you use the verb fare with the definite article:

Faccio l’ingegnere.	I’m an engineer.
Fa l’avvocato.	She’s a lawyer.

4 Plural nouns used without the article

There are some cases where you use plural nouns without any article:

in negative sentences

Non ha amici.	He hasn’t got any friends.
Non ci sono posti liberi.	There aren’t any empty seats.

in questions where any is used in English

Hai fratelli?	Have you got any brothers or sisters?
Ci sono problemi?	Are there any problems?

For more information on Negatives and Questions, see pages 149 and 152.

in lists

Ci vogliono patate, cipolle e carote.	You need potatoes, onions and carrots.
Vendono giornali, riviste e cartoline.	They sell newspapers, magazines and postcards.

when you are not giving details

Abbiamo visitato castelli e musei.	We visited castles and museums.
Ci sono cose da vedere.	There are things to see.
Hanno problemi.	They’ve got problems.

Key points

You generally use the indefinite article in a very similar way to English.

You do not use it with the numbers cento and mille, and in exclamations with che.

The indefinite article is not used when saying what someone’s job is.