I can name any object with the right article — il, lo, l', or la — and not guess the gender from the meaning.
Gender and the article: il, lo, l', la
Gender and the article: il, lo, l', la
In Italian almost every noun comes with an article, and the article shows the noun's gender. So you learn each word with its article: not “libro”, but “il libro”.
Gender from the ending: -o is usually masculine (il libro), -a feminine (la penna). With -e the word gives no clue: il giornale (masc.), but la lezione (fem.) — learn these with the article.
English has no gender, and the meaning gives no clue either (see the table): la casa (house) is feminine, il libro (book) is masculine; the same goes for la sedia (chair), la radio, il film, il problema.
English “the” has one form. The Italian article depends on the BEGINNING of the next word: lo before s + consonant (lo studente) and before z (lo zaino), and also before gn (lo gnocco), ps (lo psicologo), y (lo yogurt); l' before a vowel (l'amico, l'amica); il for other masculine words (il tavolo); la for other feminine words (la sedia).
Common mistakes:
• NOT “il studente” → lo studente.
• NOT “lo libro” → il libro.
• NOT “la amica” → l'amica.
• NOT “il sedia” → la sedia.
• NOT “Lorenzo amica è russa” → L'amica di Lorenzo è russa.
The definite article by how the word begins
The form depends on how the next word begins, not on its meaning.
| The word starts with | Article | Example |
|---|---|---|
| s + consonant | lo | lo studente |
| z | lo | lo zaino |
| gn, ps, y | lo | lo yogurt |
| vowel | l' | l'amico, l'amica |
| other masculine | il | il tavolo |
| other feminine | la | la sedia |
Gender comes with the word
Learn each word with its article — you can't guess the gender from the translation.
| In English | In Italian | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| house | la casa | fem. |
| book | il libro | masc. |
| chair | la sedia | fem. |
| radio | la radio | fem. |
| movie | il film | masc. |
| problem | il problema | masc. |
Lesson notes
Gender and the article: il, lo, l', la
In Italian almost every noun comes with an article, and the article shows the noun's gender. So you learn each word with its article: not “libro”, but “il libro”.
Gender from the ending: -o is usually masculine (il libro), -a feminine (la penna). With -e the word gives no clue: il giornale (masc.), but la lezione (fem.) — learn these with the article.
English has no gender, and the meaning gives no clue either (see the table): la casa (house) is feminine, il libro (book) is masculine; the same goes for la sedia (chair), la radio, il film, il problema.
English “the” has one form. The Italian article depends on the BEGINNING of the next word: lo before s + consonant (lo studente) and before z (lo zaino), and also before gn (lo gnocco), ps (lo psicologo), y (lo yogurt); l' before a vowel (l'amico, l'amica); il for other masculine words (il tavolo); la for other feminine words (la sedia).
Common mistakes:
• NOT “il studente” → lo studente.
• NOT “lo libro” → il libro.
• NOT “la amica” → l'amica.
• NOT “il sedia” → la sedia.
• NOT “Lorenzo amica è russa” → L'amica di Lorenzo è russa.