Basic Italian: A Grammar and Workbook

7 The masculine forms uno and un are used before masculine words:

uno is used before words starting with z, gn, ps, s + consonant;

un is used before all other words:

Uno (like lo) is also used before masculine words starting with i + vowel, x, y:

8 As with the definite article, care is needed in choosing the right article to
use with nouns ending in -e or -a which can refer to either male or female
persons:

• In the case of nouns starting with a vowel, the only difference between the
  articles is the apostrophe.

una ragazza

una casa

una stanza

a girl

a house

a room

uno zio

uno gnomo

uno psicologo

uno chef

uno spettacolo

un articolo

un uomo

un hobby

un bar

un ristorante

un senso

an uncle

a gnome

a psychologist

a chef

a show

an article

a man

a hobby

a bar

a restaurant

a sense

uno ione

uno yuppie

uno xenofobo

uno juventino

an ion

a yuppie

a xenophobe

a Juventus fan

un cantante [m]

una cantante [f]

un insegnante [m]*

un’insegnante [f]*

un collega [m]

una collega [f]

un atleta [m]*

un’atleta [f]*

a singer (male)

a singer (female)

a teacher (male)

a teacher (female)

a colleague (male)

a colleague (female)

an athlete (male)

an athlete (female)