5.3. Definite articles

Definite articles, l’articolo determinativo

In Italian the definite article agrees in number and in gender with the noun. It is used to talk about specific persons, places, or things. E.g.,

la scrivania = the desk

il postino = the mailman

In English we only have one definite article, “the,” but in Italian we have seven forms of the definite article. Following is the chart for Italian definite articles:

Definite articles:

*Although rare, masculine nouns beginning with ps, gn, or y will function the same way.

Unlike in English, Italian (also) uses definite articles in the following ways:

1. With courtesy titles:

Signore/Signora/Signorina; Dottore/Dottoressa; Professore/Professoressa, etc.., when talking about a person. It is not used when you speak directly to the person holding the title.

La Dottoressa Bianchi arriva domani. = Doctor Bianchi is arriving tomorrow.

BUT

“Professor Pucci, a che ora cominciamo?” = “Prof. Pucci, what time do we start?”

2. With days of the week, to express habituality:

 every Tuesday = il martedì

 on Fridays = il venerdì

3. With possessive adjectives:

il mio appartamento = my apartment

le nostre lezioni = our lessons

4. With times of the day:

sono le quattro = it’s four o’clock

è l’una = it’s one o’clock

5. Geographical nouns (with the exception of cities):

La Francia è bella = France is beautiful

La Germania è un paese ricco = Germany is a rich country

6. Physical descriptions with avere:

Ha la febbre = He/she has a fever

Mi sono rotto il braccio = I broke my arm

7. Generally with the names of languages:

Parla (il) francese. = He/she speaks French.

Parlano (il) cinese = They speak Chinese.