Lesson 4 - the indefinite article
The indefinite article is used to indicate people , things and animals that are brought into the conversation for the first time. There is no intention to make them more specific in the phrase. It corresponds to English “a” and “an” and is used with the singular nouns. The article “ uno ” also corresponds to the number one.
The article “un” is positioned before a male noun that start with a vowel or with a consonant . The “un article ” has not to be write with the apostrophe because it is used for male nouns.
Ex. Un uomo
Un vigile
Un sentiero
Un orso
The “uno” article is positioned before male nouns that start with x, y, z, s + consonant , gn, pn, ps, and sc.
Uno zio
Uno gnomo
Uno sciatore
Uno yogurt
The “una” article is used with female nouns. The nouns starting with a vowel need the use of the article with the apostrophe.
Una scuola
Una pianta
Un’ elica => una elica (it’s wrong)
Un’ attrice => una attrice (it’s wrong)
When to use them
- to nominate a something for the first time (un ragazzo camminava nel parco = a boy was walking in the park )
- To indicate an entire category ( un libro tiene compagnia = a book keeps company )
- To indicate an element in a category ( Sto legend un libro appassionante = I am reading an exiting book )
- To indicate people , things and animals that are not defined. ( telefono ad un’amica = I will call a friend )
When an adjective precedes the noun, the indefinite article can change , we will see in the future how.
The article is not use on the subject of the exclamations that start with Che…! (What …! )
Ex. Che bella casa ! - What a beautiful home!
Che agile gazzella ! - What an agile ibex !
Next lesson --> Partitive Article
