Italian Indefinite articles – When to use them
Italian indefinite articles are un, uno, una, un’ and they translate the English indefinite articles a/an. They find their position before the noun to specify an uncountable noun.
Generally, they are used before names of professions, common names or surnames referring to a work of art.
See the examples below:
L’anno scorso ho comprato una macchina nuova.
Last year I bought a new car.
Il Signor Martini è un insegnante di tedesco.
Mr Martini is a German teacher.
Riconoscerei un Van Gogh ad un miglio di distanza!
I would be able to recognise a Van Gogh (painting) from a mile away!
Italian Indefinite articles: Un, uno, una or un’?
The use of Italian indefinite articles depends on the gender of the noun that follows. The only difference is that Italian indefinite articles does not present a plural form, although you could make it in different ways. One of the possible options is using partitive articles we are going to see later in this page.
Unlike the English forms a and an, in Italian there are 4 indefinite articles: un, uno (for masculine nouns), una, un’ (for feminine nouns).
Do you have problems understanding which noun is masculine or feminine?
Here is a little trick for you. If a word ends with –o, very probably it is a masculine noun. On the contrary, if a word ends with –a, you will be quite sure it is a feminine noun.
However, there are some words ending with the vowel -e that could be masculine or feminine. For example the word fiore (flower) is a masculine noun in Italian, while decisione (decision) is feminine.
If you want to be extremely sure, you could check out any Italian dictionary (for example the Italian online dictionary, Treccani) where the gender is always indicated next to the noun in the form of “s.f.” for feminine singular nouns and “s.m.” for masculine singular nouns.
Un
It is used with masculine singular nouns starting with a vowel or a consonant.
Ho sentito alla radio che stamattina è precipitato un aereo sulle Ande.
I heard on the radio that this morning a plane crashed in the Andes.
L’altro giorno ho dato da mangiare ad uno scoiattolo che gironzolava a Central Park.
The other day I fed a squirrel wandering around Central Park.
Uno
It is used with masculine singular nouns beginning with s + another consonant, gn, z, ps, pn, y and x.
See the examples below:
Se credi davvero di essere uno studente modello, allora sei completamente fuori strada!
If you really think you are a straight-A student, then you are sorely mislead!
Non pensi che dovremmo regalarle per il suo compleanno uno gnomo da giardino?
Don’t you think we should give her a garden gnome for her birthday?
Dicono di aver trovato questa mattina uno zaino in aula magna.
They say they found a bag in the auditorium.
Nel caso ti sentissi depresso, ti consiglio di prendere un appuntamento con uno psicologo.
In case you are feeling depressed, I suggest you to make an appointment with a psychologist.
Se non riesci a respirare bene, faresti meglio a vedere uno pneumologo.
If you can’t breathe properly, you had better see a pulmonologist.
Ho sentito che il padre di Justin ha comprato uno yacht dal valore di 700 mila euro!
I heard that Justin’s father spent 700 thousand dollars to buy a luxury yacht!
Non ho mai suonato uno xilofono in vita mia!
I have never played a xylophone in my entire life!
Una
It is used with feminine singular nouns starting with a consonant.
Per il compito di inglese hai bisogno soltanto di una penna e di un foglio.
For the English test all you need is a pen and a sheet of paper.
Janet è una ragazza davvero intelligente. Non le si può nascondere nulla!
Janet is a really smart girl. You can’t hide anything from her!
Un’
It is used with feminine singular nouns starting with a vowel.
Ti aspetto da più di un’ora. Ma dove sei finito?
I have been waiting for you over an hour. Where did you go?
Cosa vuoi per pranzo? Un’insalata o una zuppa di cipolle?
What do you want for lunch? A salad or a onion soup?
Italian indefinite articles with adjectives
Remember that a noun can change its indefinite article if preceded by an adjective:
Un lavoro – Uno splendido lavoro
A job – A great job
Una fidanzata – Un’adorabile fidanzata
A girlfriend – A lovely girlfriend
Uno scoiattolo – un buffo scoiattolo
A squirrel – A funny squirrel
In the Italian language, adjectives are mostly placed after noun. In literature you might bump into this uncommon linguistic choice:
Un’idea – una geniale idea
An idea – a brilliant idea
When not to use Italian indefinite articles – 5 cases
There are some cases where the use of indefinite articles is required in English but not in Italian. Let’s see together when not to use Italian indefinite articles.
1. With the words cento and mille
Ti ho detto cento volte di non sbattere la porta quando esci.
I told you a hundred times not to slam the door when you leave.
Il mese scorso gli ho prestato mille euro ma ancora non me li ha restituiti.
Last month I lent him a thousand euros but he didn’t give them back to me yet.
2. With the indefinite adjectives qualche and molti
Probabilmente la sorella di Jake è andata via qualche ora fa.
Probably Jake’s sister went way a few hours ago.
Si sono conosciuti molti anni fa all’università.
They met a lot of years ago at the university.
3. With exclamations starting with che
Che gioia rivederti dopo tanto tempo!
What a joy to see you after a long time!
Che peccato non poter venire al concerto stasera con voi!
What a pity I can’t come to the concert with you tonight!
Signora Wiggins, che piacere rivederla dopo tutti questi anni!
Mrs Wiggins, what a pleasure to see you again after all these years!
4. When you talk about your job or someone else’s
Credo che il padre di Gaia sia idraulico.
I think Gaia’s father is a plumber.
Il nostro migliore amico è dottore all’ospedale psichiatrico.
Our best friend is a doctor at the mental institution.
E’ diventato ingegnere l’anno scorso quando si è laureato.
He became an engineer last year when he graduated.
5. When you talk about your job or someone else’s using the Italian verb fare
In this case you need to use the Italian definite article.
Faccio il cameriere per aiutare economicamente i miei genitori.
I’m a waiter in order to support my parents financially.
Fa lo scrittore perché il suo sogno è quello di pubblicare un giorno un libro.
He’s a writer because he dreams of publishing a book someday.
Vorrebbe fare la cantante perché dice di cantare come Madonna.
She would like to be a singer because she says she sings like Madonna.
As you can see, in this case the Italian verb fare is translated in English with the verb to be!
Differences between uno as indefinite article and uno as number
A very common mistake that a foreign learner could make is confusing the Italian indefinite article uno with the number uno.
To be clear, uno as indefinite article refers to a generic and uncountable noun, while uno as number indicates the quantity of a noun in a given context. With the following examples you will be able to understand where the difference is:
Di quanti carciofi hai bisogno per la minestra? Uno o due?
How many artichokes do you need for the soup? One or two?
Ho comprato tanti meloni oggi al mercato. Ne vuoi uno?
I bought a lot of watermelons at the market today. Do you want one?
Ho dimenticato di comprare i pompelmi. Ne è rimasto solo uno, giusto?
I forgot to buy grapefruits. There is only one left, right?
Non ho mai capito cosa faccia esattamente uno speleologo.
I never understood what a speleologist exactly does.
Ma davvero sei riuscito a catturare uno scorfano? È quasi impossibile!
Have you really caught a scorpionfish? It is almost impossible!
Che ne dici di uno sformato di zucchine per pranzo? Ti piace?
What about a zucchini pie for lunch? Do you like it?
Plural forms of Italian indefinite articles
There are different ways to make the plural form of Italian indefinite articles in order to say some or any.
The first one is the deletion of the indefinite article itself in the following situations:
In negative sentences and questions where the English quantifier any is used
Dice di non aver fatto errori nella sua vita. Naturalmente non gli crede nessuno!
He says he didn’t make any mistakes in his entire life. Obviously nobody believes him!
Non ho guanti per pulire la cucina. Come posso fare?
I haven’t got any kitchen cleaning gloves. What can I do?
Non ci sono biscotti nella credenza perché li hai mangiati tutti ieri.
There aren’t any biscuits in the cupboard because you ate them all yesterday.
Hai mai avuto problemi con la legge? Spero davvero di no!
Have you ever had any brushes with the law? I really hope not!
Ma perché ci sono elicotteri nel cielo stamattina? È successo qualcosa?
Why are there any helicopters in the sky this morning? Did anything happen?
Vendete anche vinili in questo negozio?
Do you sell any records in this shop, too?
In lists
Per la festa di Lucy devi comprare patatine, noccioline e olive.
For Lucy’s party you have to buy chips, peanuts and olives.
In questo centro commerciale puoi trovare camicie, gonne e felpe a metà prezzo.
In this shopping centre you can find shirts, skirts and sweaters at half price.
Qui si vendono giornali, riviste e fumetti.
Here we sell newspapers, magazines and comics.
When specific details are not given
In un paesino come questo ci saranno cose da vedere, non credi?
Will there be things to see in a small town like this, won’t there?
Hanno avuto davvero problemi a trovare parcheggio? Strano!
Did they really have problems to park? Weird!
A causa dell’emergenza sanitaria, è severamente vietato frequentare luoghi di cultura e aggregazione sociale.
Due to the health emergency, it is strictly forbidden to visit places of culture and social gathering.
Use of the Italian indefinite adjectives alcuni/e and certi/e
In order to say ”some” in Italian you can use the Italian indefinite adjectives:
- alcuni or certi for masculine nouns
- alcune or certe for feminine nouns
Alcune persone dovrebbero tacere anziché parlare a vanvera.
Some people should be quiet instead of talking nonsense.
Purtroppo alcuni miei parenti non verranno alla festa di laurea di mia sorella.
Unfortunately some relatives of mine won’t come to my sister’s graduation party.
Si ricordi che l’offerta è disponibile sono in certi giorni!
Remember that this offer is only available on certain days!
In certe situazioni le donne sanno essere più furbe degli uomini.
In certain situations women can be smarter than men.
Use of Italian partitive articles
In order to make partitive articles, you need to combine the Italian preposition di with Italian definite articles.Followed by an indefinite noun, they are mostly translated as some and any in English.
The following table shows the combination of the preposition di with definite articles:
| Masculine | Feminine | |
| Singular | Del (Di + il)
Dello (Di + Lo) Dell’ (Di + L’) |
Della (Di + La)
Dell’ (Di + L’) |
| Plural | Dei (Di + i)
Degli (Di + Gli) |
Delle (Di + Le) |
Devo farti assaggiare dei buoni cioccolatini che mi hanno regalato a Pasqua.
I have to let you taste some delicious chocolates they gave me on Easter.
Degli uccelli sono riusciti ad entrare in casa mia.
Some birds managed to enter my home.
Compreresti delle pizze per tutti noi, per cortesia?
Would you buy any pizzas for all of us, please?
Remember that it is easy to mistake a partitive article with an articulated preposition!
See the difference:
Ho incontrato delle ragazze davvero simpatiche.
I met some really nice girls.
In passato la vita delle ragazze sicuramente era più difficile rispetto ad oggi.
In the past girls’ life was definitely harder than nowadays.
Conclusion
As we have seen until now, using Italian indefinite articles is quite simple, don’t you think? Maybe you could run into problems like recognizing if a noun is feminine or masculine, remembering the main ways of making the plural form or combining a preposition with a definite article… Not easy, nor impossible! What you might do is starting from the given examples and then getting to the grammar. This could be really useful!
A secret to learn them quickly? Listen to some Italian songs and notice how the Italian indefinite articles are used!
And if you want to learn more about Italian Grammar, here there are useful books I suggest you to read:
