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In Italian, possessive adjectives normally require a definite article (like *il mio libro* or *la mia casa*). However, there is a very important exception: **singular family members**.

When you talk about a singular, immediate or extended family member using *mio*, *tuo*, *suo*, *nostro*, or *vostro*, you must **drop the definite article**.

### Masculine Singular Relatives

Instead of saying *il mio marito*, you simply say *mio marito*.

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This rule applies to all in-laws and extended relatives as well, such as *cognato* (brother-in-law) and *suocero* (father-in-law).

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### Feminine Singular Relatives

The same rule applies to feminine relatives like *moglie* (wife), *nonna* (grandmother), *zia* (aunt), *cognata* (sister-in-law), and *suocera* (mother-in-law).

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### Possession with "Di"

When you use the preposition **di** (of) to show possession—such as "my father-in-law's book", which is phrased in Italian as "the book of my father-in-law"—the zero-article rule still applies. Because there is no definite article before the family member, **di** does not combine into a joined word like *del* or *della*; it remains simply **di**.

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Possessives with family members (mio padre)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Past tense of modal verbs

Question	Answer
husband	il marito
kind	gentile
My husband is very kind.	Mio marito è molto gentile.
wife	la moglie
Marco's wife is your sister.	La moglie di Marco è tua sorella.
strict	severo
Her husband is a strict man.	Suo marito è un uomo severo.
grandmother	la nonna
Our grandmother is kind.	Nostra nonna è gentile.
aunt	la zia
Your aunt and my grandmother are here.	Tua zia e mia nonna sono qui.
brother-in-law	il cognato
My brother-in-law is not strict.	Mio cognato non è severo.
sister-in-law	la cognata
His sister-in-law is very nice.	Sua cognata è molto simpatica.
father-in-law	il suocero
Do you have my father-in-law's book?	Voi avete il libro di mio suocero?
mother-in-law	la suocera
Our mother-in-law is a doctor.	Nostra suocera è un medico.
Is your mother-in-law here on vacation?	Vostra suocera è qui in vacanza?
We are your father-in-law's friends.	Noi siamo gli amici di tuo suocero.
My father-in-law's dogs are big.	I cani di mio suocero sono grandi.
His wife is tired today.	Sua moglie è stanca oggi.
Your brother-in-law has an important project.	Tuo cognato ha un progetto importante.
Your sister-in-law is young, but my aunt is old.	Tua cognata è giovane, ma mia zia è vecchia.
mom	la mamma
This is my mom.	Questa è la mia mamma.
My mom is kind.	La mia mamma è gentile.
the dad	il papà
Dad is strict, but Mom is kind.	Il papà è severo, ma la mamma è gentile.
Our dad is always right.	Il nostro papà ha sempre ragione.

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