I don't know who you are.
I don't know what you want.
If you are looking for ITALIAN INDEFINITE ARTICLES
I can tell you I don't have ANY,
but what I do have are a very particular set of
ITALIAN GRAMMAR BOOKS.
BOOKS I have acquired over a very long
and BADLY PAID career as a LECTURER.
BOOKS that make me a nightmare for people like you.
If you let my ITALIAN INDEFINITE ARTICLES go now
that'll be the end of it.
I will not look for you,
I will not pursue you,
but if you don't,
I will look for you,
I will find you
and I will TEST you.
Dopo la sigla.
Ciao a tutti, il Maestro is here. I am sure you already got it,
in today's video we are going to learn together the Italian indefinite articles
Here on the screen UN, UNO, UN , UNA.
It is as simple as that.
Well... we'll see
If you have watched my video about Italian definite articles,
this will be a great addition to finally clarify
a few things about Italian articles.
If you didn't
I will look for you, I will find you and I will TEST you.
Let's start. Is it UN whisky o UNO whisky?
UN yogurt o UNO yogurt?
UN'isola o UN isola?
What is it? I can see the intermediate and
advanced students of Italian hesitating here.
I am il Maestro for a reason.
I know Kung Fu.
No, Keanu, I know Italian.
Bando alle ciance, without further ado, let's dive into the Italian indefinite articles.
Wait a second, Maestro. If I use the definite article to define something specific,
will I be using the indefinite article to define something unspecific?
Good start but there are things you should know.
Grab pen and paper.
The indefinite article is used Number #1
to refer to people, animals or things not mentioned previously
UNA persona mi ha chiamato al telefono
(Someone, a person, called me on the phone)
Number #2 The Italian indefinite article is used to refer to people, animals or things
in a generic, indefinite way:
Voglio UNA pizza (I want a pizza)
UNA is the indefinite article and does not clarify
what type of pizza I want, which pizza.
Even if this sentence were part of a broader context
my interlocutor would not know exactly which pizza
Even if I said Voglio UNA pizza Margherita,
I would still be using the Italian indefinite article
because it's just a generic indefinite pizza Margherita.
It is quite different from saying
Voglio LA pizza margherita della pizzeria all'angolo.
In that case, I want the pizza made specifically by the pizzeria in the corner.
It's a unique characteristic, therefore I will be using the Italian definite article.
Context is everything.
Voglio LA pizza margherita della pizzeria all'angolo as opposed to any
other pizza made by any other pizzeria.
Voglio UNA pizza margherita della pizzeria all'angolo
is just a generic indefinite pizza Margherita made by that pizzeria.
No. #3 The Italian indefinite article accompanies nouns used to indicate someone or something specific.
Ho UN amico molto bravo con gli articoli indeterminativi
(I have a friend who is very good with Italian indefinite articles)
Come on, can you believe that?
Last but not least No. #4 The Italian indefinite article is used for body parts
well, in case there is more than one body part.
You know eyes, ears, arms, knees and so on.
Maria ha UNA mano fasciata.
Let's take another dive into the Italian indefinite articles
The Italian indefinite article has 4 forms, two masculine (UN, UNO) and two feminine (UNA, UN)
As per the Italian definite articles, Italian indefinite articles must agree with nouns' gender.
And remember: Italian indefinite articles do not have plural forms.
There is a way to refer to an indefinite quantity, and this is something we will be studying
separately in the next video.
Therefore SUBSCRIBE.
Let's start. The article UN is used with most
masculine nouns beginning with a consonant, a vowel, and the semiconsonant W. For example:
The article UNO is instead used with masculine nouns beginning
with S + consonant, Z, PS, GN, X, Y, and the semi-consonant J.
Let's see some examples now:
If you let my ITALIAN INDEFINITE ARTICLES go now that'll be the end of it.
It's not over.
Regarding the feminine indefinite articles,
we have two forms.
The article UNA is used with feminine nouns beginning with a consonant,
and UN' is used with feminine nouns beginning with a vowel.
Let's see that on the screen:
Maestro, grazie, can I go now? The parking ticket is expired.
If you stay, I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you go,
I will look for you, I will find you and I will TEST you.
I just remembered that I came by bus.
Good. Listen up.
There are a few things to remember when dealing with Italian indefinite articles.
First of all, you will NOT use the indefinite article before proper nouns,
that is names used for
for a person, place, or organisation.
In most cases, you will only use the Italian indefinite article
before nouns and adjectives preceding nouns.
You won't be using the article in all the other cases
such as people's names & surnames, continents, countries, cities & small islands,
large islands & regions, seas & oceans, rivers, lakes & mountains, hours & years.
There are specific cases in which you could use an Italian indefinite article before surnames,
however, it means "a livello di", "simile a":
Roberto pensa di essere UN Casanova (Roberto thinks he is a great seducer).
Very interestingly, when the article is put before a famous surname
it may indicate a famous work of art: Carlo ha comprato UN Caravaggio
(a painting by Caravaggio).
Maestro, and if I put the Italian
indefinite article before a name?
Maestro: I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want.
Before a name, it means un certo/una certa, un tale/una tale:
Ha telefonato UNA Maria della scuola.
Two more things and I will free you all.
You can use indefinite articles with geographical terms
(e.g. mare, montagna, fiume, lago, continente, Paese, regione, etc.) as long as you do NOT add the proper noun.
E.g.: IL lago di Garda bellissimo (IL is a definite article)
UN lago bellissimo (UN is an indefinite article.
It doesn't necessarily mean that you are not talking about the Lago di Gard.
Perhaps it is in front of you, therefore,
in that case, it is the context that will inform your interlocutor about which lake it is).
Last but not least, you can use Italian indefinite articles
with expressions of time, hours & years (e.g. un ora, un po' di tempo, un anno, etc.)
as long as you do NOT add a specific time or year.
E.g.: IL 1984 stato UN anno speciale
(IL is a definite article and it accompanies the
exact year, UN is the indefinite article and precedes the noun ANNO).
Those are general rules and there are lots of exceptions you haven't explained.
Listen up, I am Il Maestro. the original one, the Matrix,
the one who invents grammar topics to keep invoicing his students.
I created you, little tutor, and I will destroy you.
Dal Maestro tutto: mi raccomando: studiate.