Indefinite Articles Flashcards
➤ In Italian there are four indefinite articles:
un, uno, una and un’. Depending on noun gender
Un
Masculine nouns starting with most consonants and all vowels.
un telefonino a mobile phone
un uomo a man
Uno
uno with nouns starting with s + another consonant, z, gn, pn, ps, x and y.
uno studente a student
uno zio an uncle
uno psichiatra a psychiatrist
Una
The indefinite article to use for feminine nouns starting with a consonant.
una ragazza a girl
una mela an apple
Un’
un’ with nouns starting with a vowel. un’ora an hour
un’amica a (girl)friend
She was with a friend.
Era con un’amica.
There are some cases where the article is used in English, but not in Italian:
● with the words cento and mille
● when you translate a few or a lot
● in exclamations with che (Che sorpresa! What a surprise!)
to say what someone’s job is
you either leave out the article: È medico. He’s a doctor.
Or you use the verb fare with the definite article: Faccio l’ingegnere. I’m an engineer.
➤ There are some cases where you use plural nouns without any article:
● in negative sentences (Non ha amici. He hasn’t got any friends.)
● in questions where any is used in English (Hai fratelli? Have you got any brothers or sisters?)
● in lists
● 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.
