Articles and Gender

In Italian every noun has a gender — masculine or feminine. Unlike in English, the article also depends on the first letter of the word that follows. That feels a bit tricky at first, but it follows clear rules.

Ending	Gender	Example
-o	usually masculine	il libro (the book), il gatto (the cat)
-a	usually feminine	la casa (the house), la porta (the door)
-e	either possible	il fiore (m), la chiave (f)
-zione	feminine	la stazione, la nazione

The definite articles ("the"):

	Singular	Plural
masculine (default)	il (il libro)	i (i libri)
masculine before s+cons., z, gn…	lo (lo studente)	gli (gli studenti)
masculine before a vowel	l' (l'amico)	gli (gli amici)
feminine	la (la casa)	le (le case)
feminine before a vowel	l' (l'amica)	le (le amiche)

The indefinite articles ("a/an"):

	masculine	feminine
default	un (un libro)	una (una casa)
before s+cons., z…	uno (uno studente)	una (una zia)
before a vowel	un (un amico)	un' (un'amica)

The rule in one sentence: lo / gli / uno come before s+consonant (lo studente), z (lo zaino), and gn, ps, x, y. l' and un' come before a vowel. In all other cases: il / i / un.

Which article fits?

Complete