Italian definite articles

Learn to choose between il, lo, la, l', i, gli and le.

10 minutes12 exercisesLevel A1

Rule Table Mistakes Exercises

PDF A1

What are they?

Definite articles indicate a specific person or thing: il libro, la casa, gli studenti.

The choice depends on three things: gender, number and initial sound of the word.

il
common singular masculine
il libro

lo
in front of s+consonant, z, ps, gn, x, y
lo studente

la
feminine singular
la casa

l’
before a vowel
l’amico, l’amica

🇮🇹 Why do we say lo studente?
Because studente begins with st. Before s + consonant we use lo.

Complete table

Gender and number	Article	When	Example
masculine singular	il	ordinary consonant	il cane
masculine singular	lo	s + consonant, z, ps, gn, x, y	lo zaino
masculine singular	l’	vowel	l’amico
masculine plural	i	plural of il	i cani
masculine plural	gli	plural of lo and l’	gli zaini, gli amici
feminine singular	la	consonant	la casa
feminine singular	l’	vowel	l’amica
feminine plural	le	all cases	le case, le amiche

Examples to observe

il tavolo → i tavoli

lo studente → gli studenti

lo zaino → gli zaini

l’amico → gli amici

la porta → le porte

l’amica → le amiche

Mistakes that almost everyone makes

❌ il studente✓ lo studente

❌ i studenti✓ gli studenti

❌ il amico✓ l’amico

❌ le amico✓ gli amici

Makeup: the plural of lo and of l’ it is always masculine gli.

Exercises with immediate feedback

Write the correct article.

1. ___ libro

2. ___ studente

3. ___ casa

4. ___ amico

5. ___ libri

6. ___ studenti

7. ___ case

8. ___ zaino

9. ___ zaini

10. ___ amica

11. ___ amici

12. ___ amiche

Your result

0 correct answers out of 12

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