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Indefinite and definite articles
Indefinite articles
The indefinite article (=English “a” or “an”) has the following forms in Italian:
Masculine Feminine
un (default masculine form) una (default feminine form)
uno (before z or s+consonant)1 un’ (before a vowel)2
1 This applies to any consonant after s (sp; st; sb, sc)
2 This applies to any vowel.
Definite articles
The definite article (=English “the”) has the following forms in Italian:
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
| default form il | i | Before cons. la | le |
| Before z or s+cons) lo | gli | Before vowel l’ | le/l’ |
| Before vowel l’ | gli/gl’ |
*gli may become gl’ before a word beginning with i.
NOTE: Although the gender and number of the definite article are determined by the gender and number of the noun it modifies, the precise form to be used is determined by whatever word immediately follows the definite article: il signore but l’altro signore and lo stesso signore (stesso = “same”) l’amica but la stessa amica.