The, A and Some

"Articles" or the words for "The" and "A" can be written in 9 different ways in italian.

The word "A" takes three forms, Un Tavolo, (M1), Una Borsa (F1), but Uno Zaino (M+S1)

This introduces the concept of "S Impure (M+S)"

S Impure (M+S) means any word beginning with:

• S followed by a consonant
• Z, Ps, Gn, Pn
• Or a Vowel * - although in this case, the last 'o' is abbreviated.

The words for "The" take a further 6 forms:

La Ragazza (F1), Il Ragazzo (M1), I Libri (M>1), Le Scarpe (F>1), Lo zaino (M+S 1), Gli Stivali (M+S >1)

Once again, note that if the article ends with "a or o", and the noun starts in "a or o", then the last vowel of the article is abbreviated, for example Lo ombrello becomes L'ombrello (M+S 1)

There is no concept of F+S, an S impure word is treated like any other if feminine.

i.e. L'onda (F1), Le Onde (F>1)

The word "Some"

The word some us expressed by prefixing the article with "De"

M>1 = Dei (De + i)

M+S>1 = Degli (De + gli)

F>1 = Delle (De + le) * with an extra 'L'

Example:

Dei Libri (M>1)

Degli alberi (M+S>1)

Delle case (F>1)