Italian Definite Articles: Il, Lo, La, I, Gli, Le

Level: A1. Italian nouns are masculine or feminine, and the word for “the” changes with gender, number and — unusually — the first sound of the word right after the article (lo studente, but il bravo studente).

The rule

	Singular	Plural	When
Masculine	il	i	before most consonants: il libro → i libri
Masculine	lo	gli	before s + consonant, z, gn, ps, x, y and semivowel i (lo iato): lo studente → gli studenti, lo zaino → gli zaini
Masculine	l’	gli	before a vowel: l’amico → gli amici
Feminine	la	le	before a consonant: la casa → le case
Feminine	l’	le	before a vowel: l’amica → le amiche

Most nouns ending in -o are masculine and most ending in -a are feminine, but there are exceptions (il problema, la mano), so learn each noun with its article.

Example sentences

1. Il libro è interessante. — The book is interesting.
2. Lo studente è italiano. — The student is Italian. (s + consonant → lo)
3. Lo zaino è pesante. — The backpack is heavy. (z → lo)
4. **L’**amico di Marco è simpatico. — Marco’s friend is nice. (vowel → l’)
5. La casa è grande. — The house is big.
6. **L’**amica di Sara è qui. — Sara’s friend is here.
7. I libri sono nuovi. — The books are new.
8. Gli studenti studiano. — The students are studying.
9. Gli amici arrivano. — The friends are arriving. (l’ → gli)
10. Le case sono belle. — The houses are beautiful.

Common mistakes

• ❌ il studente → ✅ lo studente. s + consonant takes lo.
• ❌ i amici → ✅ gli amici. Masculine plural before a vowel is gli.
• ❌ la amica → ✅ l’amica. La elides to l’ before a vowel.
• ❌ le amici → ✅ gli amici. Amici is masculine plural; le is only feminine.

Compared with…

• Indefinite articles (un, uno, una, un’) — follow similar sound rules; they come in a later lesson in the Italian grammar section.
• Spanish and French — also mark gender with the article, but Italian adds the lo/gli forms for certain sounds.

Quick recap before the quiz.

Mini quiz

1. ___ zio (the uncle)
2. ___ ragazza (the girl)
3. ___ orologi (the watches)
4. ___ isola (the island)
5. ___ gatti (the cats)

Answers

1. lo — z → lo.
2. la — feminine, consonant.
3. gli — masculine plural before a vowel.
4. l’ — feminine before a vowel.
5. i — masculine plural before a consonant (il gatto → i gatti).

Sources

• Rules and forms checked against Treccani and the Accademia della Crusca.
• This topic sits at beginner level (A1) in common course sequencing; the CEFR is used as a general reference, not as a topic-level ruling.
• Example sentences were written for this lesson; no third-party sentences were copied.

Next

• Back to the Italian grammar section
• New here? Start with Start Learning Italian Here