Indefinite articles and singular nouns
These articles correspond to the English a/an.
Nouns name a person, an object, an idea, an animal or a place. Every noun is either masculine or feminine.
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- Nouns ending in –o are masculine.
- Nouns ending in –a are feminine.
- Nouns ending in –e can be masculine or feminine.
| masculine singular | feminine singular |
| un + all consonants: un panino | una + all consonants: una bottiglia |
| un + all vowels: un aperitivo | un’ + all vowels: un’aranciata |
| uno + s + consonant: uno studente | |
| uno + z: uno zaino |
How do you know which words ending in –e are masculine or feminine? You don’t. However, here are two easy ways to distinguish some of these words:
- Nouns ending in –ione are always feminine, i.e. una nazione; una stazione.
- Nouns ending in –ore are always masculine, i.e. un dottore; un signore.
Exceptions:
- Foreign nouns are always masculine, i.e. un bar, un toast.
- Most nouns ending in –ma are masculine, i.e. un problema; un sistema; un panorama; un programma.
- Nouns ending in –ista are both masculine and feminine, i.e. un/una barista; un/una turista.
