0.1.2 Nouns & Articles Flashcards
What is meant by the gender of a noun in Italian?
Nouns in Italian have grammatical gender. They can be masculine or feminine.
A noun’s gender is the quality that indicates whether it is ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’.
Every noun in Italian fits into one of two categories. About half the nouns in Italian are masculine nouns and about half are feminine nouns. This is called grammatical gender and is not the same as human gender. It’s just a quirk of the language.
Every single noun gets assigned a grammatical gender. For example, una spiaggia (“a beach”) is feminine, while un treno (“a train”) is masculine. This doesn’t mean that beaches are girls and trains are boys! Everyone understands that these are genderless objects. It’s just an grammar feature that every noun has.
Most feminine nouns end in the letter a, while most masculine nouns end in the letter o.
Translate to Italian:
a woman
una donna
To say “a” before a feminine noun, use una (or un’ if it begins with a vowel).
Translate to Italian:
a man
un uomo
To say the indefinite article “a” before a masculine noun, use un in most cases.
Translate to Italian:
the woman
la donna
To say “the” before a feminine noun, use la (or l’ if it begins with a vowel).
Translate to Italian:
the man
l’uomo
If a singular noun begins with a vowel, l’ is used to say “the”, regardless of whether it is masculine or feminine.
Translate to Italian:
a boy
un ragazzo
Translate to Italian:
a girl
una ragazza
Translate to Italian:
a child
(male)
un bambino
The word bambino / bambina refers to a small child. A teenager probably wouldn’t like to be called that!
Translate to Italian:
a child
(female)
una bambina
The word bambino/bambina refers to a small child. A teenager probably wouldn’t like to be called that!
Translate to Italian:
the children
(any genders)
i bambini
You can use i bambini for a group of boys, or for a mixed group.
To say “the” before most masculine singular nouns, you use the word il. This changes to i in the plural.
If a group has both boys and girls, it defaults to the masculine plural. (Yes, it’s unfair. We’re describing the grammar rules, not endorsing them!)
Translate to Italian:
the children
(only girls)
le bambine
To turn the word bambina from singular to plural, the last letter changes from a to e. You can do that with nearly every word that ends in an a.
To say “the” before feminine singular nouns, you use the word la (or l’). This changes to le in the plural.
Translate to Italian:
some men
degli uomini
The word “some” takes many forms:
masculine: dei, degli
feminine: delle
The form dei is used for most masculine nouns. The form degli is used for masculine nouns beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), an x, y, z, or with the letters sc, pn, ps, or gn.
Singular masculine nouns usually end in the letter o. This changes to i in the plural.
Translate to Italian:
some women
delle donne
delle is essentially the plural of the indefinite feminine article una (“a”). So:
“a woman” = una donna
“some women” = delle donne
Also note that the feminine ending “a” changes to an “e” to make the word plural.
Translate to Italian:
a boy and a girl
un ragazzo e una ragazza
and = e
Translate to Italian:
the boys and the girls
i ragazzi e le ragazze
The word “the” is translated two different ways here: i and le. Why?
This word changes based on the gender of the noun. The word ragazzi is masculine, so it takes i, while the word ragazze is feminine, so it takes le.
Translate to Italian:
the boys and the men
i ragazzi e gli uomini
Why do the two words i and gli look different even though they both mean “the”?
For most masculine nouns in Italian, “the” = il for singular nouns and “the” = i for plural nouns.
But if a masculine noun begins with an x, y, z, or with the letters sc, pn, ps, or gn, “the” = lo for singular nouns and “the” = gli for plural nouns.
Finally, if a masculine noun begins with a vowel, “the” = l’ for singular nouns and “the” = gli for plural nouns.
The word “the” needs to be used before nouns much more frequently in Italian than in English. You’ll find it before most nouns!
Translate to Italian:
a student
(male)
uno studente
student = studente (masculine)
student = studentessa (feminine)
Translate to Italian:
a student
(female)
una studentessa
student = studente (masculine)
student = studentessa (feminine)
Translate to Italian:
a teacher
(male)
un insegnante
teacher = insegnante
Many nouns ending in the letter e can be masculine or feminine, by simply changing the article (“a” or “the”) that accompanies it.
By using un we specify that this is a male teacher.
Translate to Italian:
a teacher
(female)
un’insegnante
teacher = insegnante
Many nouns ending in the letter e can be masculine or feminine, by simply changing the article (“a” or “the”) that accompanies it.
By using una we specify that this is a female teacher. (Before a vowel, una gets shortened to un’.)
Translate to Italian:
a professor
(male)
un professore
professor = professore (masculine)
professor = professoressa (feminine)
Translate to Italian:
a professor
(female)
una professoressa
professor = professore (masculine)
professor = professoressa (feminine)
Translate to Italian:
the house
la casa
house = casa
Translate to Italian:
money
i soldi
soldi is always a plural noun in Italian, which is why it carries the article i.
