Lesson #031, Monday

The seven ways to say 'the' are il, lo, l', la, i, gli, and le. Now here are the rules for deciding which of these forms to use. il = will precede masculine singular nouns that begin with a consonant, except words beginning with ps, pn, gn, z and s followed by a consonant. il libro = the book il ragazzo = the boy lo = will precede masculine singular nouns that begin with ps, pn, gn, z and s followed by a consonant. lo specchio = the mirror lo studente = the student l' = will precede all masculine and feminine singular nouns beginning with a vowel. l'amico = the friend l'acqua = the water la = will precede all feminine singular nouns beginning with a consonant. la donna = the woman la ragazza = the girl i = is the plural form of il. i libri = the books i ragazzi = the boys gli = is the plural form of lo and l' for masculine plural nouns. gli specchi = the mirrors gli amici = the friends le = is the plural form of both la and l' for feminine plural nouns. le donne = the women le acque = the waters