Learn how to use Italian definite articles
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Consuelo: Ciao |
| Marco: Marco here. Absolute Beginner Season 1 Lesson 7: Italian Sandwiches Free to a Good Home. |
| Consuelo: Hello, everyone. I’m Consuelo and welcome to ItalianPod101.com. |
| Marco: With us, you learn to speak Italian with fun and effective lessons. |
| Consuelo: We also provide you with cultural insights… |
| Marco: And tips you won’t find in a textbook. In today’s class, we will focus on plural definite articles. |
| Consuelo: This conversation takes place in a little park. |
| Marco: The conversation is between Melissa and Alessio. |
| Consuelo: The speakers are friends, therefore, they will be speaking informally. |
| Marco: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Melissa: Mmmm, buono! |
| Alessio: Sì, i panini del bar di fronte sono molto buoni. |
| Melissa: Eh sì. Il mio ha le olive, il tonno e i pomodori. E tu che panino hai? |
| Alessio: Il mio panino invece ha il prosciutto, la mozzarella e le melanzane. |
| Marco: Let’s hear it slowly now. |
| Melissa: Mmmm, buono! |
| Alessio: Sì, i panini del bar di fronte sono molto buoni. |
| Melissa: Eh sì. Il mio ha le olive, il tonno e i pomodori. E tu che panino hai? |
| Alessio: Il mio panino invece ha il prosciutto, la mozzarella e le melanzane. |
| Marco: And now, with the translation. |
| Melissa Mmmm, buono! |
| Marco Mmmm, good! |
| Alessio Sì, i panini del bar di fronte sono molto buoni. |
| Marco Yes, the sandwiches of the bar in front of here are very good. |
| Melissa Eh sì. Il mio ha le olive, il tonno e i pomodori. E tu che panino hai? |
| Marco Oh yes. Mine has olives, tuna, and tomatoes. And you, which sandwich do you have? |
| Alessio Il mio panino invece ha il prosciutto, la mozzarella e le melanzane. |
| Marco My sandwich has ham, mozzarella cheese, and eggplant instead. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Marco: Consuelo, do Italians eat a lot of Panini for lunch? |
| Marco: Consuelo, do Italians eat a lot of "panini" for lunch? |
| Consuelo: Oh yes, Marco. Because they are very good, cheap, and quick to prepare! It is very normal in Italy to see people eating their sandwiches on the streets or on a bench for lunch but also during the afternoon. |
| Marco: That's true, and tourists have started to do the same actually. |
| Consuelo: Oh, you're right. My grandmother always said "there is nothing better than a 'panino' with cheese and a glass of red wine under the sun." |
| Marco: Wow, your grandmother is a wise woman. |
| Consuelo: That's for sure, but almost every Italian thinks exactly the same! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is… |
| Consuelo panino [natural native speed] |
| Marco sandwich, panino |
| Consuelo panino [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo panino [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo molto [natural native speed] |
| Marco very, really |
| Consuelo molto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo molto [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo oliva [natural native speed] |
| Marco olive |
| Consuelo oliva [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo oliva [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo pomodoro [natural native speed] |
| Marco tomato |
| Consuelo pomodoro [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo pomodoro [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo invece [natural native speed] |
| Marco instead |
| Consuelo invece [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo invece [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo melanzana [natural native speed] |
| Marco eggplant |
| Consuelo melanzana [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo melanzana [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Marco: Consuelo, what word are we studying today? |
| Consuelo: That's the Italian word "panino" and its plural form "panini." We'll also look at the word "bar." |
| Marco: A "panino" is the Italian sandwich. |
| Consuelo: As we have seen in the previous lesson, masculine nouns ending in "o" take the "i" in their plural form, and as we will see in this lesson's grammar point, the definite article to use is "i." |
| Marco: That's why Alessio says "i panini del bar." |
| Consuelo: "Bar" in Italian is a masculine noun; nouns ending in a consonant are usually masculine. |
| Marco: And which types of nouns end with a consonant in Italian? |
| Consuelo: Those are mostly words taken from English or other languages. |
| Marco: For example? |
| Consuelo: "Bar," "autobus," "film," "sport"… |
| Marco: I see, but how can I make the plural of those nouns? |
| Consuelo: In this case, you can't change the noun; you can only recognize it from the definite article. For instance, "bar" has only "i bar" as the plural form. |
| Marco: Ah okay, okay. And if I say "i bari?" |
| Consuelo: Oh no, that's a big mistake!! |
Lesson focus |
| Consuelo: Let's take a look at today's grammar point. |
| Marco: The focus of this lesson is on plural definite articles. |
| Consuelo: As mentioned in our previous lesson, definite articles correspond to the English counterpart "the." Today we shall see the plural form. |
| Marco: There are basically three rules that help you to decide which plural article to use. |
| Consuelo: First rule. |
| Marco: Use "I" before masculine nouns starting with a consonant. For example… |
| Consuelo: "i ragazzi" |
| Marco: "the boys" and |
| Consuelo: "i panini" |
| Marco: "the sandwiches." |
| Consuelo: Second rule. |
| Marco: Use "gli" before masculine nouns starting with a vowel, the letter "-z," or the letter "-s" + a consonant. For instance… |
| Consuelo: "gli unicorni" |
| Marco: "the unicorns," |
| Consuelo: "gli zerbini" |
| Marco: "the doormats," and |
| Consuelo: "gli scoiattoli" |
| Marco: "the squirrels." |
| Consuelo: Third rule. |
| Marco: Use "le" for every feminine noun, regardless of the starting letter. For example… |
| Consuelo: "le camicie" |
| Marco: "the shirts," |
| Consuelo: "le unghie" |
| Marco: "the fingernails," |
| Consuelo: "le zanzare" |
| Marco: "the mosquitoes," and |
| Consuelo: "le melanzane" |
| Marco: "the eggplants." |
| Marco: One difference between the Italian and English languages is that in Italian, we often employ "substantive adjectives," which are adjectives we use as stand-alone nouns. |
| Consuelo: Oh yes. We normally use substantive adjectives when we take one quality of the subject and make it become a temporary or permanent synonym of the subject we refer to. |
| Marco: Let me think of an example… Oh, I have an idea. Let's say we have a group of five people and only one of them has blond hair. We could say "il biondo," meaning "the blond one," since the context clarifies that we can identify just one person. |
| Consuelo: Exactly! And these adjectives follow all the grammatical rules concerning nouns, thus they can be masculine or feminine, singular or plural; they can be preceded by articles and so on. |
| Marco: That’s just about does it for today. Before we go, we want to tell you about a way to drastically improve your pronunciation. |
| Consuelo: The voice recording tool. |
| Marco: Yes, the voice recording tool in the premium learning center. |
| Consuelo: Record your voice with a click of a button. |
| Marco: And then play it back just as easily. |
| Consuelo: So you record your voice and then listen to it. |
| Marco: Compare it to the native speakers. |
| Consuelo: And adjust your pronunciation. |
| Marco: This will help you improve your pronunciation fast. |
Comments
HideHi Julie,
Thank you for your feedback and for your kind words! ❤️
We understand that Italian articles can be challenging. One effective strategy is to memorize new words along with their articles.
For example, don't learn just "casa" (house). Learn "la casa" (the house).
This way, you'll naturally learn the gender of the nouns and get used to using the correct articles.
I hope this helps.
Feel free to reach out if you have any more questions.
A presto,
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
Wow. the articles in italiano are very complicated. I don't know if this program provides enough drill to commit them to memory. What do you suggest? By the way, i really love this programand all of the resources, grazie!
Hi Rafa,
thanks for posting.
Flashcards are available with a premium subscription. Maybe your 7-days free premium trial ended and that's why you can't access anymore?
If that's not the case, feel free to write an email to contactus@ItalianPod101.com explaining your problem, so you can get assistance.
Thank you!
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
I have the same concern as Walter states below...no access to flash cards.
Hi Walter,
please write an email to contactus@ItalianPod101.com explaining your problem, so you can get assistance.
Thank you!
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
I subscribed to the free Absolute Beginner course on 10 June 2022. I had access to flashcards, but since Lesson 8, I no longer can add vocabulary to "Flashcards". Please advice.
wleon
Hi Jessica,
actually, both sentences are possible, but it should be 'quale', not 'qual'. 😉
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
Hello, I am wondering about this sentence:
"E tu che panino hai?" They translate it to, "And you, which sandwich do you have?"
Why not "E tu, qual panino hai?"
Thank you
Jessica
Ciao Parisa,
Thank you so much for your positive message! 😇❤️️
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
We wish you good luck with your language studies.
A presto,
Levente
Team ItalianPod101.com
Italianpod101 is exactly what every learner needs and must be looking for.❤️️ With this, having a tutor is not necessary anymore, as u can self study in the best way. 👍
Hi Neal Andrade,
some lessons are audio only, others also have video. This one is audio only.
Let us know if you have any further questions!
Team ItalianPod101.com
Is there a video to go along with the audio in each lesson?
Hi Mario,
great job!
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
sì, i panini del bar di fronte sono molto buoni.
Hi Tracie,
thanks for your question.
That's because he is talking about the sandwich he is eating (so a single one -> singular form of the adjective: buono).
She is talking in general about all the sandwiches of that bar (so more than one -> plural form: buoni)
I hope this helps, don't hesitate to ask if you have any other questions!
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
Why does she say "buono" and he says "buoni"?
Hi Lyna,
thanks for your question!
Both "il" and "lo" mean "the" and are used with singular masculine nouns.
The difference is:
use lo with nouns starting with z, -y, -s+consonant -> Lo studente (the student), Lo zaino (the backpack)
use il with nouns starting with all other consonants -> il bambino (the child), il libro (the book)
use l' with nouns starting with a vowel -> l'albero (the tree), l'ombrello (the umbrella)
Hope this helps!
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
Hello, i have one question to ask, what is the difference between il and lo?
Hi Rebeca,
thanks for your question!
Both "la" and "le" are articles used with feminine nouns. But "la" is used with singular nouns, "le" with plural nouns.
"Mozzarella" is singular, so you need to say "la mozzarella".
When it's plural, you can say "le mozzarelle".
Hope this helps!
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
Hi Sumer Stevens,
we have a video with tips to pronounce the R sound. Here:
https://www.italianpod101.com/lesson/ultimate-italian-pronunciation-guide-7-new-consonants-2/?lp=87
Hope it helps!
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com