L'articolo indeterminativo: un / uno / una / un'
L'articolo indeterminativo: un / uno / una / un' means “"a / an" — four forms, chosen by gender and the following sound”. Masculine: un before consonants and vowels alike (un libro, un amico), but uno before s+consonant, z, gn, ps, y (uno studente, uno zio). Formation: un + C/vocale(m.) · uno + s+cons., z, gn, ps, y · una + C(f.) · un' + vocale(f.)
"a / an" — four forms, chosen by gender and the following sound
A1Formation
un + C/vocale(m.) · uno + s+cons., z, gn, ps, y · una + C(f.) · un' + vocale(f.)
Explanation
Masculine: un before consonants and vowels alike (un libro, un amico), but uno before s+consonant, z, gn, ps, y (uno studente, uno zio). Feminine: una before consonants (una casa), un' with apostrophe before a vowel (un'amica). The apostrophe matters: un amico is masculine, un'amica is feminine — the apostrophe is the only written difference. There is no plural indefinite article; Italian uses dei/degli/delle (the partitive) or simply no article.
Examples
Note
The uno/lo rule is the same set of sounds for both articles — learn it once and it works for il/lo and un/uno alike.
FAQ
L'articolo indeterminativo: un / uno / una / un' — what does it mean and how is it used?
"a / an" — four forms, chosen by gender and the following sound. Masculine: un before consonants and vowels alike (un libro, un amico), but uno before s+consonant, z, gn, ps, y (uno studente, uno zio). Feminine: una before consonants (una casa), un' with apostrophe before a vowel (un'amica). The apostrophe matters: un amico is masculine, un'amica is feminine — the apostrophe is the only written difference. There is no plural indefinite article; Italian uses dei/degli/delle (the partitive) or simply no article.
L'articolo indeterminativo: un / uno / una / un' — how do you form it?
un + C/vocale(m.) · uno + s+cons., z, gn, ps, y · una + C(f.) · un' + vocale(f.)
L'articolo indeterminativo: un / uno / una / un' — any usage notes?
The uno/lo rule is the same set of sounds for both articles — learn it once and it works for il/lo and un/uno alike.