Hey it’s Professor Dave, let me tell you about definite articles.
We already looked at the indefinite article, so now lets look at the definite article,
or articolo determinativo.
The definite article will describe a specific object, or person, or category, and we’ve
already seen this a bit so far.
For example, we could say: Dammi la penna!
This means give me the pen, and by the pen, we mean the specific pen the other person
is holding.
This is different from the indefinite article, as we can see if we switch articles in this
sentence.
Dammi una penna.
That means give me a pen, any pen, so we are no longer being as specific.
The indefinite article is used for “a” or “an”, so the definite article is used
in place of “the”.
In English, definite articles are easy to use, since there is only one.
In Italian, there are some different forms to memorize.
The same notions of number and gender will be relevant, and in addition, we have to look
at the first letter of the word following the article.
These rules are the same as the ones for the indefinite article, so you can go back and
review those if you’ve forgotten them.
Otherwise, we can recall that words starting with consonants get one article, special sound
words get another, and words starting with vowels get yet another.
Then each has its plural form.
So let’s learn all the forms now.
We should point out that there is absolutely never an apostrophe used in any plural form.
Now that we know articles, singular and plural nouns, a few adjectives, and the verb essere,
we are finally ready to build some simple full sentences.
Here is a cup of coffee, or caffe`.
The coffee is hot, or caldo.
How would we then say: the coffee is hot.
In the first blank we need the correct definite article, and in the second blank we need the
correct form of the verb essere.
What if there are several cups of coffee?
Pretty easy stuff.
Let’s try some more.
How can we say that the boat is red?
We can’t stress enough how important the definite article is, because it shows up in
Italian even where we wouldn’t use it in English.
We use it with nouns that have an abstract meaning.
We use it with nouns that represent categories.
Notice that for these examples, we wouldn’t say the life is beautiful, or I love the jam,
when speaking so generally, nevertheless, this is how Italian works.
We use the definite article with geographical nouns, like nations, rivers, and mountains.
However, we do not do this for cities.
We use it with the names of languages, which in Italian are not capitalized.
We use it for seasons as well.
We use it with days of the week if referring to a repetitive action.
If you mean just one specific day, you won’t use it.
We need it when using colors as nouns.
We use it with titles, ranks, or professions.
However, this won’t be done when addressing someone.
We use it when telling time.
Dates as well.
And lastly, we use it with infinitives that are used as nouns.
I think you’re ready to try a few on your own, so let’s check comprehension.