Ch 1 · Lesson 10Italian · Chapter 1 · Lesson 10 · Grammar primer
L'anno, uno zio, un'ora: before a vowel, and a or an
and shorten to l' before a vowel, the next word decides, and the indefinites follow the same sound rule: , , , '.
The short version
does not
, ,
Why?Hide
Before a vowel, and shorten to l', and the feminine shortens to '. The masculine is already a whole word, so it never takes an apostrophe. That one mark is how you see the gender on the page: is a male friend, a female one. The same sound rule gives before z or s plus a consonant: .
L': the article before a vowel
Before a vowel, and drop their own vowel and become '. Say quickly and you get anyway: the apostrophe is spelling catching up with the mouth.
- the year (masculine)- the man (masculine)- the hour (feminine)
In the plural there is no elision: masculine goes to ( , the years) and feminine stays ( , the hours).
The next word decides, not the noun
The sound rule looks at the word straight after the article, which is not always the noun:
| Italian | English | Why |
|---|---|---|
| the uncle | z comes next |
| the old uncle | v comes next |
| the students | st comes next |
| the new students | n comes next |
The indefinites: un, uno, una, un'
The same sound rule, one more time:
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| most consonants | | |
| s + cons., z, gn, ps | | |
| a vowel | | |
takes no apostrophe before a vowel, because it is already a whole word: , a year. Only the feminine shortens: , an hour. That apostrophe is how you tell the gender of (a male friend) from (a female friend) on the page.
For some in the plural, Italian uses fused with the article: , some books; , some friends; , some houses.
Going further: The whole system on one screen and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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Lesson 10 of 40 in this chapter