- In today's video, we're going to be talking
about possessive adjectives, or the word for "my".
Let's begin!
(pleasantly upbeat music)
Hello everyone and welcome to Coffee Break Italian!
I'm Mark.
Hello everyone, I'm Francesca.
And, today, we're answering the question from Austin.
So Austin wrote to us and asked us this question:
How do I say "my friends?"
Do I need to use an article?
A very interesting question indeed, Francesca.
- It is, and I think I understand why
our Coffee Break learner is asking this very question.
Well, we can start by saying that the simple answer is yes,
you do need the definite article,
but let's see why into more detail.
As you probably know, possessive adjectives in Italian
require a definite article in front of them,
and we can take the Italian for "my" for some examples.
So let's start
from the masculine singular because possessive adjectives,
as all adjectives, have a gender: masculine and feminine.
And a number: singular or plural.
So, let's take the word "gatto," cat,
which is masculine and singular,
and let's say "my cat."
"My cat" is "il mio gatto."
- "Il mio gatto", okay, "il mio gatto".
So it's almost like seeing "the my cat" in a sense.
- Exactly, Mark.
You have the definite article "il",
and then the possessive adjective "mio".
Oh, what a beautiful cat you've drawn, Mark! Well done!
- So "il mio gatto". Let's have a feminine one.
- Okay, let's take the word "tazza", cup.
- Okay.
- So if you want to say "my cup,"
then you need feminine singular endings.
So "il mio" becomes "la mia".
"La mia tazza".
- Okay, so "la mia tazza".
I'll draw a Coffee Break cup.
Not sure if that's very good, but you get the idea!
- Perfect, Mark!
Thinking of the plural now,
we can pluralize the word "il mio gatto"
with some masculine plural endings
and changing the definite article "il" into "i",
so "il mio gatto" becomes "i miei gatti".
"I miei gatti", "my cats".
- "Miei" is quite a tricky word to say.
Let's hear it again. - "Miei".
- It's like a sound
produced by cats in a way!
- That's a good way to remember it.
"I miei gatti", so "my cats".
Again, it almost feels like you're seeing "the my cats"
because we need that definite article each time.
- And finally, feminine plural.
If we want to pluralize "la mia tazza" and say "my cups",
we end up with "le mie tazze" where you can see
the feminine plural definite article "le"
and the standard ending for feminine plural, "e".
So, "le mie tazze", "my cups". - Perfect.
However, there is an exception to this rule,
isn't there Francesca?
- There is, and I think this is why our learner
was asking his question.
We have to consider something really important
when using definite articles
with nouns describing family members or relatives
in their singular form.
In that case, we must drop the definite article.
I'll give you an example just to clarify things.
Let's take, for example,
the word for brother in Italian, "fratello".
- "Fratello", okay.
- So if I want to say
"my brother", I just need to use "mio",
and the article "il" must be dropped.
So, "mio fratello", my brother.
- So "my brother", just "mio fratello",
not "il mio fratello".
Just "my brother", "mio fratello", and it would work
the same way for the feminine, wouldn't it?
- Yes, for example, "mia sorella", "my sister".
- Okay, so which family members do we use this idea with?
- Well, let's say all the relatives, the blood relatives,
like "madre", "padre", "zio", "zia", "cugino", "cugina".
Also not really blood relatives.
For example, "mio marito", my husband,
or "mia moglie", my wife.
So, all the people that we consider relatives
one way or another. - Good stuff.
However, that's only in the singular, isn't it?
- Yes, exactly, Mark.
When pluralizing family members,
then we can just follow the general rule of having
the definite article and the possessive adjective.
So, if I talk about my brothers,
then I would say "i miei fratelli",
as in "i miei gatti".
- Yep, and then "my sisters" would be?
- "Le mie sorelle". - "Le mie sorelle", perfect.
Okay, so coming back to the question from Austin,
how do you say "my friends?"
My friends aren't blood relatives in any way,
so we would be saying...?
- "I miei amici".
- So we've got "i miei amici"
like so,
and that is the answer to Austin's question.
So we hope Austin
that makes sense, that you now know how to say
how do I say "my friends", so we now know that.
If you have a question like Austin,
then simply get in touch with us.
Send your questions to coffeebreakquestions.com
Just go to that website, and you will be able to
fill in the form there,
and we look forward to receiving your questions
and hopefully including them
in a future episode of this show.
Now, we hope that you've enjoyed this video.
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- Yes, and why don't you try using possessive adjectives
in a simple sentence in Italian
and post it in the comments here below?
Perfect, well thank you very much Francesca
Thank you Mark!
And goodbye, see you next time!
(pleasantly upbeat music)