Definite articles and gender (il, la, l')

Nouns come with their article

Every Italian noun is masculine or feminine. Nouns in -o are usually masculine and nouns in -a usually feminine, but the article is what tells you for certain:

  • il — masculine: il ragazzo
  • la — feminine: la ragazza
the boy
il ragazzo

Before a vowel both shrink to l': l'uomo. That hides the gender, so the English hint gives it — "the man (m)".

the man (m)
l'uomo

"To be": essere

PronounVerbMeaning
iosonoI am
tuseiyou are
lui / leièhe / she is

The ending already says who the subject is, so Italian usually drops the pronoun.

It's me.
Sono io.
It's him.
È lui.

qui

The boy is here.
Il ragazzo è qui.
The woman is here.
La donna è qui.

Saying what something is

He is the man.
Lui è l'uomo.
She is the woman.
Lei è la donna.

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