#the articles

My LARP blorbos, Ducati " Hot Shit" Whitewall and Dogear "Literally three dudes in a trenchcoat" Dogear. Drawn for the Fursona issue of the Articles

If any of you are familiar with Italian, you'll know that there are two main characteristics for nouns: genere (gender), split into maschile (masculine) and femminile (feminine), and numero (number), obviously singolare (singular) and plurale (plural).

To define whether a noun is a combination of any of these characteristics, we use articles. We have nine total and they follow clear rules to decide which to use. Let's see them.

L'Articolo Determinativo - Definite Article

It is used to say that the person or thing we are talking about is a specific one instead of a general one. There are six forms.

Maschile Singolare: il - lo

Femminile Singolare: la

Maschile Plurale: i - gli

Femminile Plurale: le

How do I choose which to use? Easy!

Figure out whether the noun is masculine or feminine (check a dictionary if unsure!)

Figure out whether the noun is singular or plural

Are you still unsure because the masculine form has two articles? Check the following rule!

We use Lo and Gli when the word that follows start with:

A vowel - l'ombrello, gli ombrelli (the umbrella)

An H - l'hotel, gli hotel (the hotel)

S+consonant - lo stivale, gli stivali (the boot)

X and Y - lo xilofono, gli xilofono / lo yogurt, gli yogurt

GN - lo gnomo, gli gnomi (the dwarf)

Z - lo zio, gli zii (the uncle)

PN and PS - lo pneumatico, gli pneumatici (the tire) / lo psichiatra, gli psichiatri (the psychiatrist)

I + vowel - lo iugoslavo, gli iugoslavi (the Jugoslavian)

We use Il and I when words starts with:

A consonant (except previous cases) - il libro, i libri (the book)

J as a consonant (soft g) - il jet, i jet (the jet)

Ps: when the word starts with a vowel and the article ends with a vowel (lo and la only) the article is shortened in l'. Eg: lo ellisse>l'ellisse (the ellipsis); la oca>l'oca (the goose).

Exception: it doesn't happen with words starting with i+vowel (eg. la Iugoslavia - Jugoslavia; lo ione - the ion)

L'Articolo Indeterminativo - Indefinite Article

As in many other languages, it is used when the word it precedes is general or vague.

It only has three forms and no plural.

Maschile Singolare: un - uno

Femminile Singolare: una (un')

The rule of usage is the same as the determinative article's. Uno follows Lo and Un follows Il except that words starting with a vowel take UN not UNO. (Un albero, not uno albero - a tree)

A precisation: we use un' when the noun is feminine and starts with a vowel. It is important to remember the difference between un (m.) and un' (f.) as it specifies the gender.

An example: una isola>un'isola (an island, f.); Un albero>un albero (a tree, m.); un insegnante (a male teacher) vs. un'insegnante (a female teacher)