Italian Demystified. A self-Teaching Guide
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Forms of the Defi nite Article
Chi è? Che cos’è? Who is it? and What is it? If you answer these questions with the
defi nite article the, then you mean to say that it is something specifi c, such as the
book that belongs to Mary, rather than any book.
Like the indefi nite article, the defi nite article varies according to the gender and
initial sound of the noun it precedes. Unlike it, the defi nite article also varies accord-
ing to the number, singular or plural, of the noun.
SINGULAR FORMS
Let’s start with the singular forms of the defi nite article:
• The defi nite article lo is used before a masculine singular noun beginning
with z, s consonant, gn, or ps.
lo zio the uncle lo gnocco the dumpling
lo studente the student lo psicologo the psychologist
• Il is used before a masculine singular noun beginning with any other
consonant.
il ragazzo the boy
il cane the dog
il gatto the cat
• La is used before a feminine singular noun beginning with any consonant
(including z, s consonant, gn, or ps).
la zia the aunt la ragazza the girl
la studentessa the student la psicologa the psychologist
• And l’ is used before a masculine or feminine singular noun beginning with
any vowel.
masculine
l’amico the (male) friend l’orologio the watch
feminine
l’amica the (female) friend l’ora the hour
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PLURAL FORMS
The corresponding plural forms of the defi nite article are as follows:
• The plural form gli is used before a masculine plural noun beginning with
z, s consonant, gn, ps, or any vowel; it is the plural of both lo and l’.
gli zii the uncles gli psicologi the psychologists
gli studenti the students gli amici the friends
gli gnocchi the dumplings gli orologi the watches
• The plural form i is used before a masculine plural noun beginning with
any other consonant (but not a vowel); it is the plural of il.
i ragazzi the boys i fratelli the brothers
i cani the dogs i cugini the cousins
i gatti the cats
• And le is used before a feminine plural noun beginning with any sound
(consonant or vowel); it is the plural of both la and l’.
le zie the aunts le isole the islands
le ragazze the girls le sorelle the sisters
le ore the hours le cugine the (female) cousins
Oral Practice
Practice saying the following sentences out loud.
Chi è? Who is he?
È lo zio di Maria. He is Mary’s uncle. (He is the uncle of
Mary.)
È lo studente americano. He is the American student.
È il fratello di Pina. He is Pina’s brother.
È il cugino di Giovanni. He is John’s cousin.
Chi è? Who is she?
È la zia di Marco. She is Mark’s aunt.
È la studentessa italiana. She is the Italian student.
È la sorella di Giovanni. She is John’s sister.
È la psicologa francese. She is the French psychologist.
Written Practice 2
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate forms of the defi nite article.
1. Chi è? Who is he?
È psicologo italiano. He is the Italian psychologist.
2. Chi è?
È fratello di Pasqualina. He is Pasqualina’s brother.
3. Chi è?
È amico di Maria. He is Mary’s friend.
4. Chi è? Who is she?
È amica di Marco. She is Mark’s friend.
5. Chi è?
È sorella di Andrea. She is Andrew’s sister.
6. Che cos’è? What is it?
È gatto di Paola. It is Paula’s cat.
7. Che cos’è?
È orologio di Claudia. It is Claudia’s watch.
Oral Practice
Practice saying the following sentences out loud.
Chi sono? Who are they?
Sono gli zii di Carlo. They are Charles’s uncles.
Sono gli studenti americani. They are the American students.
Sono gli amici di Maria. They are Mary’s friends.
Sono i cugini di Pina. They are Pina’s cousins.
Sono le studentesse americane. They are the American students.
Sono le amiche di Carlo. They are Charles’s friends.
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Written Practice 3
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate forms of the defi nite article.
1. Chi sono? Who are they?
Sono fratelli di Carlo. They are Charles’s brothers.
2. Chi sono?
Sono zii di Maria. They are Mary’s uncles.
3. Chi sono?
Sono amici di Giuseppe. They are Joseph’s friends.
4. Chi sono?
Sono sorelle di Pina. They are Pina’s sisters.
5. Chi sono?
Sono amiche di Gina. They are Gina’s friends.
USING DEFINITE ARTICLES
Just as with the indefi nite article, when an adjective precedes the noun remember to
adjust the defi nite article according to the beginning sound of the adjective.
lo zio the uncle but: il caro zio the dear uncle
l’amica the friend but: la cara amica the dear friend
And the defi nite article, too, must be repeated before every noun.
il ragazzo e la ragazza the boy and girl
l’amico e lo zio the friend and uncle
Also, as you have seen, defi nite articles are used to indicate possession.
lo zio di Maria Mary’s uncle the uncle of Mary
gli amici di Stefano Stephen’s friends the friends of Stephen
Defi nite articles are also used with titles, unless the person is being directly spo-
ken to.
Il dottor Rossi è italiano. Dr. Rossi is Italian.
La professoressa Bianchi è italiana. Professor Bianchi is Italian.
But:
Dottor Rossi, come va? Dr. Rossi, how is it going?
Professoressa Bianchi, come sta? Professor Bianchi, how are you?
Oral Practice
Practice saying the following sentences out loud.
Chi è? Who is it?
È l’amico di Maria. He is Mary’s friend.
È il caro amico di Maria. He is Mary’s dear friend.
Chi sono? Who are they?
Sono gli zii di Paolo. They are Paul’s uncles.
Chi è? Who is it?
È il dottor Rossi. It is Dr. Rossi.
Buongiorno, dottor Rossi. Good morning, Dr. Rossi.
Come sta? How are you?
Chi sono? Who are they?
Sono il signor Martini e la They are Mr. Martini and Dr. Rossi.
dottoressa Marchi.
Buonasera, signor Martini e Good evening, Mr. Martini and Dr. Rossi.
dottoressa Marchi.
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Written Practice 4
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate forms of the defi nite article, if required.
1. Chi è? Who is it?
È amica di Giovanni. It is John’s friend.
2. Chi sono? Who are they?
Sono zie di Maria. They are Mary’s aunts.
3. Chi è? Who is it?
È professoressa Binni. It is Professor Binni.
Buongiorno, professoressa. Good morning, professor.
Expressing Here and There with Essere
C’è Marco? Is Marco here/there? This question is formed with the verb essere (to
be) ci (here or there), which produces the expression esserci meaning to be here/
there. This verbal phrase is used to indicate or ask if people or things are here or
there. Use the regular conjugation of essere (Chapter 4) with ci placed before the
conjugated verb. Note, however, that it can only be used in the third person. Here
are some example sentences:
C’è Marco? Is Marco here/there?
Sì, c’è. Yes, he is here.
Quanti studenti ci sono? How many students are there?
Ci sono molti studenti. There are many students.
To make the expression negative, just put non in front of it.
C’è il professor Giusti? Is Professor Giusti here?
No, non c’è. No, he is not here.
Ci sono molti studenti in classe? Are there many students in the class?
Non, non ci sono molti studenti. No, there are not many students.
The word ecco in Italian means here is or there are. It is used to indicate or point
out something or someone directly.
Dov’è Maria? Where is Mary?
Ecco Maria. Here is Mary.
Dove sono gli studenti? Where are the students?
Ecco gli studenti. There are the students.
When to use essere, esserci, or ecco may seem confusing. Just keep in mind the
differences between them, as the following table illustrates.
Singular Plural
Essere (to be)
Che cosa è? What is it? Che cosa sono? What are they?
È un libro. It is a book. Sono due libri. They are two books.
Esserci (to be here/there)
C’è Marco? Is Marco there? Ci sono Marco Are Marco and Maria
e Maria? there?
Sì, c’è. Yes, he is there/here. Sì, ci sono. Yes, they are there/here.
Ecco (pointing out: here is/are; there is/are)
Dov’è Marco? Where is Marco? Dove sono Marco Where are Marco and
e Maria? Maria?
Ecco Marco. Here/There is Marco. Ecco Marco e Maria. Here/There they are.
Oral Practice
Practice saying the following sentences out loud. Note the new vocabulary words.
Che cos’è? What is it?
È il libro d’italiano. It is the Italian book.
Chi è? Who is it?
È un amico. He is a friend.
Che cosa sono? What are they?
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Sono una penna e una matita. They are a pen and pencil.
È il computer di Marco? Is it Mark’s computer?
No, è il computer di Maria. No, it is Mary’s computer.
C’è una matita qui? Is there a pencil here?
Sì, c’è. Yes, there is.
Ci sono studenti là? Are there students there?
Sì, ci sono molti studenti là. Yes, there are lots of students there.
C’è un portatile qui? Is there a laptop here?
No, non c’è. No, there is not.
Dov’è Maria? Where is Mary?
Ecco Maria. There is Mary.
Dove sono i libri? Where are the books?
Ecco i libri. Here are the books.
Written Practice 5
Supply the appropriate forms of essere, esserci, or ecco.
1. Che cos’è? What is it?
il portatile di Maria. It is Mary’s laptop.
2. Che cosa sono? What are they?
le penne di Marco. They are Mark’s pens.
3. C’è Marco là? Is Mark there?
No, Marco non . No, Mark is not there.
4. Ci sono molti studenti oggi in classe? Are there many students in class?
Sì, molti studenti oggi. Yes, there are many students
today.
5. Dove sono le matite? Where are the pencils?
le matite. Here are the pencils.
Using the Verb Avere
Quanti anni hai? How old are you? (Or literally, How many years do you have?)
To be able to use this expression, and many others like it, you will have to learn how
to conjugate the verb avere, which means to have. In Chapter 4 you learned how to
conjugate the verb essere. All verbs are conjugated according to the same pattern
(fi rst person singular, second person singular, and so on). Here are the forms of
avere in the present indicative:
Singular Plural
(io) ho I have (noi) abbiamo we have
(tu) hai you have (familiar) (voi) avete you have (familiar)
(Lei) ha you have (polite) (Loro) hanno you have (polite)
(lui/lei) ha he/she has (loro) hanno they have
As you might recall, the h is not pronounced in Italian. It is silent. So the pronun-
ciation of the verb conjugation io ho would look like this: (EE-oh oh) and lui ha
would be: (LOO-ee ah), and so forth. Also, recall that you must distinguish between
familiar and polite forms with verb conjugations.
Familiar Singular Familiar Plural
Marco, quanti anni hai? Ragazzi, quanti anni avete?
Marco, how old are you? Kids, how old are you?
Polite Singular Polite Plural
Signora Marchi, quanti anni ha? Signori, quanti anni avete (or hanno)?
Mrs. Marchi, how old are you? Gentlemen, how old are you?
As you know, to make any verb negative, simply put non before it in the
sentence.
Non ho ventidue anni. I am not twenty-two years old.
Non ho trent’anni ancora. I am not thirty years old yet.
The verb avere is used in many common idiomatic expressions. This can be a bit
tricky because these same expressions are translated with the verb to be (not to
have)in English.
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avere fame to be hungry (literally: to have hunger)
avere sete to be thirsty (literally: to have thirst)
avere sonno to be sleepy (literally: to have sleep)
avere ragione to be right (literally: to have reason)
avere torto to be wrong (literally: to have crookedness)
Oral Practice
Practice saying the following sentences out loud.
Marco, hai fame? Mark, are you hungry?
Sì, ho fame. Yes, I am hungry.
Signora Marchi, ha sete? Mrs. Marchi, are you thirsty?
No, non ho sete. No, I am not thirsty.
Maria ha sonno? Is Mary sleepy?
Sì, Maria ha sonno. Yes, Mary is sleepy.
Giovanni ha sonno? Is John sleepy?
Sì, anche Giovanni ha sonno. Yes, John is also sleepy.
Marco e Maria, avete fame? Mark and Mary, are you hungry?
No, non abbiamo fame. No, we are not hungry.
Loro hanno ragione? Are they right?
Sì, (loro) hanno ragione. Yes, they are right.
(Io) ho ragione, vero? I am right, aren’t I?
Sì, (tu) hai ragione. Yes, you are right.
(Noi) abbiamo torto? Are we wrong?
Sì, (voi) avete torto. Yes, you are wrong.
Quanti anni hai, Marco? Mark, how old are you?
Ho venticinque anni. I am twenty-fi ve years old.
Quanti anni ha, signora Marchi? How old are you, Mrs. Marchi?
Ho trenta anni. I am thirty years old.