Nouns also have definite articles. Definite articles include – l’/il/lo/la
Articles are discussed on pages 15-19 in the printed version of the purple textbook or view pages 46-54 in the digital version online. A definite article is used before a noun when referring to a particular person, animal, place, thing, event or idea.
Italian nouns also have singular and plural forms.
The concept of number is presented on pages 13-14 in the printed version of the purple textbook or view pages 40-45 in the digital version online. Singular, masculine nouns usually end in -o and sometimes -e in Italian. These letters change to -i to form the plural. Feminine, singular nouns end in -a and sometimes in -e. These letters change to -e and -i, respectively, to form the plural. Nouns ending in an accented letter, a consonant or an -i do not change to form the plural (in these cases plural is marked by an article).
Some nouns from the menu are shown below. Note the definite articles (l’ / il / lo / la ) and their singular and plural forms. It’s important to remember that the definite article changes between the singular and plural forms.
| Singular Form | Plural Form |
|---|---|
| l’antipastol’antipasto | gli antipasti gli antipasti |
| il paneil pane | N/A |
| il primoil primo | i primii primi |
| il secondoil secondo | i secondii secondi |
| il contornoil contorno | i contornii contorni |
| il formaggioil formaggio | i formaggi i formaggi |
| il caffèil caffè | i caffèi caffè |
| lo spumantelo spumante | N/A |
| il vinoil vino | i vinii vini |
| l’insalatal’insalata | le insalate le insalate |
| la fruttala frutta | N/A |
| la pizzala pizza | le pizze le pizze |
| l’acqual’acqua | N/A |
| la coca-colala coca-cola | N/A |
| la birrala birra | le birrele birre |
It’s time to practice single and plural definite articles.