{"id":15510,"date":"2018-01-22T18:36:02","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T17:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=15510"},"modified":"2018-01-22T18:36:02","modified_gmt":"2018-01-22T17:36:02","slug":"the-italian-indefinite-article","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/the-italian-indefinite-article\/","title":{"rendered":"The Italian Indefinite Article"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week we looked at the six variations of the articolo determinativo<\/strong><\/a><\/span> (definite article). Today we’re going to turn our attention to the slightly less complex articolo indeterminativo<\/strong> (indefinite article).<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo by Geoff.<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Whereas in English there are just two indefinite articles: a<\/em> and an<\/em>, in Italian we have three: un<\/strong>, uno<\/strong>, and una<\/strong>. Let’s find out how we use them:<\/p>\n

for masculine nouns beginning with a consonant, apart from x<\/strong>, z<\/strong>,\u00a0 gn<\/strong>, ps<\/strong>, and s<\/strong> followed by another consonant, we use un<\/strong><\/span>
\nexamples:<\/em>
\nun cane<\/strong> = a dog
\nun coltello<\/strong> = a knife
\nun fagiolo<\/strong> = a bean
\nun fucile<\/strong> = a rifle
\nun cucchiaio<\/strong> = a spoon<\/p>\n

for masculine nouns beginning with x<\/strong>, z<\/strong>,\u00a0 gn<\/strong>, ps<\/strong> and s<\/strong> followed by another consonant we use uno<\/strong><\/span>
\nexamples:<\/em>
\nuno xenofobo<\/strong> = a xenophobe
\nuno zoo<\/strong> = a zoo
\nuno gnomo<\/strong> = a gnome
\nuno psicologo<\/strong> = a psychologist
\nuno scarpone\u00a0<\/strong>= a boot
\nuno sci<\/strong> = a ski
\nuno specchio<\/strong> = a mirror<\/p>\n

for masculine nouns beginning with a vowel we use un.<\/strong> N.B. because un<\/strong> ends with a consonant it doesn’t need an apostrophe in front of a vowel<\/span>
\nexamples:<\/em>
\nun uomo<\/strong> = a man
\nun albero<\/strong> = a tree
\nun orologio<\/strong> = a watch
\nun ombrello<\/strong> = an umbrella
\nun italiano<\/strong> = an Italian<\/p>\n

for feminine nouns beginning with a consonant we use una<\/strong><\/span>
\nexamples:<\/em>
\nuna casa<\/strong> = a house
\nuna ragazza<\/strong> = a girl
\nuna farfalla<\/strong> = a butterfly
\nuna mela<\/strong> = an apple
\nuna formica<\/strong> = an ant<\/p>\n

for feminine nouns beginning with a vowel una<\/strong> becomes un’<\/strong><\/span>
\nexamples:<\/em>
\nun’arancia<\/strong> = an orange
\nun’attrice<\/strong> = an actress
\nun’idea<\/strong> = an idea
\nun’amica<\/strong> = a female friend
\nun’estate<\/strong> = a summer<\/p>\n

If you refer back to last week’s post, How To Use The Italian Definite Article<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span>, you’ll notice that:
\nun<\/strong> (a\/an masculine<\/em>) corresponds to il <\/strong>(the)
\nhence: un cane – il cane<\/strong>
\nuno<\/strong> (a\/an masculine<\/em>) corresponds to lo <\/strong>(the)
\nhence: uno scarpone – lo scarpone<\/strong>
\nuna<\/strong> (a\/an feminine<\/em>) corresponds to la<\/strong> (the)
\nhence: una mela – la mela<\/strong>
\nun’<\/strong> (a\/an feminine<\/em>) corresponds to l’<\/strong> (the)
\nhence: un’attrice – l’attrice<\/strong><\/p>\n

Remember that we do not<\/span> abbreviate un<\/strong> with an apostrophe in front of a masculine noun beginning with a vowel.
\nHence we say: un uomo<\/strong> not un’uomo<\/strong>, and un albero<\/strong> not un’albero<\/strong>, etc.<\/p>\n

Next up will be a quiz based on the Italian definite and indefinite articles.<\/p>\n

Rimanete sintonizzati!<\/strong> (Stay tuned!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Last week we looked at the six variations of the articolo determinativo (definite article). Today we’re going to turn our attention to the slightly less complex articolo indeterminativo (indefinite article). Whereas in English there are just two indefinite articles: a and an, in Italian we have three: un, uno, and una. Let’s find out how…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":15521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[474352,474350],"class_list":["post-15510","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-how-to-say-a-or-an-in-italian","tag-italian-indefinite-articles"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t