Italian All-in-One For Dummies (101 page)

Sets:
i piatti
(
dishes
),
gli spiccioli
(
coins; change
),
le dimissioni
(
resignation
)

Nouns that come in the plural from Latin:
le nozze
(
nuptials
),
le ferie
(
paid vacation days
),
le tenebre
(
darkness
)

Deciding When to Include an Article

When you're confident in your knowledge of nouns as they relate to gender and number, you can move on to when and how to use articles and nouns together. Deciding when to use the indefinite article is easier because people use it in similar ways in English and Italian. Also, all you need to know is that you're singling out one item among many; for example,
Un cane abbaia
(
A dog is barking
).

Becoming confident in using the definite article is more challenging than choosing when to use the indefinite. The following sections indicate the instances when the use of each type of article is correct and the few when it's definitely incorrect.

When (and when not) to use a definite article

Deciding when and when not to use the definite article is a tricky topic in both Italian and English. One rule of thumb is that Italian uses the definite article much more than English. For example, Italian uses articles before foods (
il pane
[
bread
],
la mela
[
apple
]), before body parts (
il braccio
[
arm
]
le dita
[
finger
]), before dates (
il 25 aprile
[
April 25
]), before titles (
il professor Baldini
[
Professor Baldini
]), and before abstract nouns (
la forza
[
strength
]). It also uses the article before possessive adjectives (
la mia borsa
[
my handbag
]) and family members when referred to in the plural (
le mie sorelle
[
my sisters
]).

People

You use Italian articles when referring to a professional (
il dott. Cecconi
) or before a female name to express affection and familiarity (
la Elena
), but not when addressing someone directly. For example, you use the article when you say
Ho visto il dott. Cecconi martedì sera
(
I saw Dr. Cecconi on Tuesday evening
), but you don't use it when you say
Buon giorno, dott. Cecconi
(
Good morning, Dr. Cecconi
).

Places

You use the Italian definite article with the following geographical features:

Mountains, rivers, and lakes:
le Alpi
(
the Alps
),
il Monte Bianco
(
Mont Blanc
),
il Po
(
the Po River
),
il (lago di) Garda
(
Lake Garda
),
il lago Michigan
(
Lake Michigan
)

Many large islands and archipelagos:
la Sicilia
(
Sicily
),
l'Inghilterra
(
England
),
le Bahamas
(
the Bahamas
); but skip the article for
Long Island
(
Long Island
) and
Cuba
(
Cuba
)

Regions and states:
il Lazio
(
the Lazio region
),
la Puglia
(
Apulia
),
la California
(
California
)

Nations (singular or plural) and continents:
l'Italia
(
Italy
),
gli Stati Uniti
(
the United States
),
l'Asia
(
Asia
)

Italian doesn't use the definite article before names of cities and most small islands:
Bologna, Roma
(
Rome
),
New York, Capri, Malta.

The rules for articles change when using prepositions and idiomatic expressions. With idiomatic usage, you don't use an article with a preposition unless the object of the preposition is modified and the preposition is contracted. For example, you don't use an article when you say
Vado in Italia
(
I'm going to Italy
), but you do use an article when you say
Vado nell'Italia centrale
(
I'm going to central Italy
).

Things

Use the definite article with the following things:

Countable plural nouns:
Le scimmie e le mucche sono mammiferi
(Literally:
Monkeys and cows are mammals
).

Uncountable nouns:
il sale
(
salt
),
lo zucchero
(
sugar
),
l'acqua
(
water
).

In English, uncountable nouns take the definite article only when you mean a type of or a portion of something, as in
Mi passi il sale, per favore?
(
Can I have the salt, please?
); but when you talk (in English) about salt, sugar, water, and so on in general, you use neither the definite nor the indefinite article. In Italian, you have to use the definite article.