Basic Italian: A Grammar and Workbook

l’ is used before words beginning with a vowel or h;

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

il is used in all other cases;

i is used as the plural of il;

gli is used as the plural of both l’ and lo:

• The use of lo/gli is due to the initial sound of chef, pronounced in Italian as
  in English (i.e. ‘sh’).

Lo is also used before masculine words starting with i + vowel, x, y:

• The use of lo/gli is due to the initial sound of juventino, pronounced as
  i + vowel (i.e. like the ‘y’ in English ‘youth’).

4 Care is needed in using the article with nouns ending in -e or -a which can
refer both to male or female persons (see Unit 1, paragraphs 4 and 5):

Singular

l’articolo

l’uomo

l’hotel

lo zio

lo gnomo

lo psicologo

lo chef*

lo spettacolo

lo sciopero

il bar

il ristorante

il senso

Plural

gli articoli

gli uomini

gli hotel

gli zii

gli gnomi

gli psicologi

gli chef*

gli spettacoli

gli scioperi

i bar

i ristoranti

i sensi

the article(s)

the man/men

the hotel(s)

the uncle(s)

the gnome(s)

the psychologist(s)

the chef(s)

the show(s)

the strike(s)

the bar(s)

the restaurant(s)

the sense(s)

Singular

lo ione

lo yuppie

lo xenofobo

lo juventino*

Plural

gli ioni

gli yuppie

gli xenofobi

gli juventini*

the ion(s)

the yuppie(s)

the xenophobe(s)

the Juventus fan(s)

Singular

il cantante [m]

la cantante [f]

the (male)

singer

the (female)

singer

Plural

i cantanti [m]

le cantanti [f]

the singers [male, or

male and female

mixed]

the (female) singers