The article lo is also put before nouns masculine beginning with a vowel; but, in that case, the o is taken away, and l with an apostrophe substituted. SINGULAR. EXAMPLE. Noм. L' Amore, the love. PLURAL. Noм. Gli amori, the loves. Gli, degli, agli, dagli, &c. are not marked with the elision, except before nouns beginning with an i: as gl' ingegni, degl' ingegni, &c. the talents, of the talents. The article la is thus declined: SINGULAR. Noм. La, the. GEN. Della, of the. DAT. Alla, to the. Acc. Lu, the. ABL. Dalla, from or by the. Colla, with the. Pella, or per la, for the. Sulla, or su la, upon the. PLURAL.' Noм. Le, the. DAT. Alle, to the. ABL. Dalle, from or by the. Nelle or ne le, in the. Colle or con le, with the. Pelle or per le, for the. Sulle or su le, upon the. This article serves for nouns feminine which begin with any consonant whatever. The article la serves also for nouns feminine which begin with a vowel; but the a is suppressed, ard an apostrophe put in its place. SINGULAR. Noм. L' anima, the soul. ABL. Dall' unima, from or by the Nell' anima, in the soul. PLURAL. Noм. Le anime, the souls. Nelle anime, in the souls. Observe, that the elision must be used in the plural with nouns which commence with an e: as, l'eminenze, dell' eminenze, the eminences, of the eminences, &c.; and not le eminenze, delle eminenze, &c. It is necessary to except the words effigie, estasi, enfasi, età, estremità, effigy, ecstasy, emphasis, age, extremity, and some others, which have the same termination in the plural as in the singular, in order to distinguish the singular from the plural, as they do not admit the apostrophe. GENERAL RULES ON THE DEFINITE ARTICLE. 1. The definite article in Italian always agrees in gender and number with the substantive to which it relates. Ex. il fiore, the flower; i fiori, the flowers; la porta, the door; le porte, the doors. 2. The article is employed before all nouns and adjectives used substantively, whether the article be expressed in English or not. Ex. il giardino, the garden; l'oro e l'argento, gold and silver; il sublime ed il bello, the sublime and the beautiful, &c. 3. The article is also put before the names of mountains, lakes, rivers, provinces, and kingdoms, when speaking of • Many writers, and particularly the poets, employ con lo, con l', con gli, con la, con le, instead of collo, coll', cogli, colla, colle. all the province, all the river, all the kingdom, or of some parts especially designated. Ex. il monte Sinai, mount Sinai; il Po, the river Po; il lago di Como, the lake of Como; la, Normandia, Normandy; l'Italia, Italy, &c. 4. With regard to islands, no precise rule can be given, for some take the article: as, la Corsica, Corsica; la Sicilia, Sicily; and others reject it: as, Malta, Malta; Corfù, Corfu, &c. 5. The article is used before the names of persons and cities when they are accompanied by an adjective of quality or title; but in such a case, the article is placed before the adjective. Ex. il Re Dario, King Darius; l'antica Roma, ancient Rome. 6. It is put before the words signore, signora, Mr., Mrs.; as, il Signor Morelli, Mr. Morelli; la Signora Riccobini, Mrs. Riccobini; il Signor Presidente, the President; la Signora Principessa, the Princess.* 7. When the words signore, signora are preceded by a possessive pronoun, the article is placed before the pronoun. Ex. il vostro signor padre, your father; la vostra signora madre, your mother, &c. 8. In the vocative case, that is, when we address a person, no article is put before signore and signora. Ex. Come state, signore? How do you do, sir?-Che dite, Signora Contessa? What do you say, Countess? What has been said of the singular will also apply to the plural. 9. The infinitive of verbs and the adverbs take the masculine article il, lo, l' when they are employed substantively (see post, Remarks on the Verbs and Participles). Ex. il cantare rallegra, lo scherzare è permesso, l'adulare è cosa vile, singing rejoices, joking is permitted, flattering is a vile thing; io non so nè il quando nè il come, I neither know when nor how, &c. • The e is cut off in Signore whenever it is followed by a noun, unless the noun commences with an s followed by another consonant, or by a z. The e is likewise suppressed in Signore when followed by sì, no, mio. Ex. Signor sì, yes, sir; Signor no, no, sir; Signor min, my (dear) sir; but it is retained when these words precede. Ex. sì, Signore no, Sigrore; mio Signore. Repetition of the Article. 1. The article is repeated before all substantives following each other in the same phrase when they are of different gender and number, and when they are not taken in an indeterminate sense, as those given in the exceptions. Ex. il sole, la luna, e le stelle sono i luminari del mondo, the sun, the moon, and the stars are the luminaries of the world.* 2. When a substantive is preceded by several adjectives, the article is only placed before the first. Ex. la bella e deliziosa città di Firenze, the fine and delightful city of Florence. But if the adjectives express opposite qualities, the article is repeated before each adjective. Ex. il vecchio e il nuovo palazzo, the old and new palace, &c. Exceptions. 1. The article is omitted before common nouns when they are taken in an indeterminate sense, that is, when in using them nothing is said as to the extent of their signification. Ex. i cattivi non hanno nè religione, nè amore, the wicked have neither religion nor love; vado in chiesa, I go to church; because it is not said whose religion or love, what church, &c. The sense of these nouns is then indeterminate. But it is said with the article, l'amore del padre, the love of the father; vado nella chiesa di San Pietro, I am going in Saint Peter's church; because we determine whose love, in what church, &c. In the same manner we say, without the article, vado a casa, vado a letto, I go home, I go to bed; è in campagna, he is in the country; aver fame, aver sete, to be hungry, to be thirsty. The article is sometimes suppressed to give more rapidity, grace, and energy to the discourse. Ex. uomini, donne, vecchi e fanciulli corsero tutti alla difesa delle mura, men, women, old and young, all ran to the defence of the walls. 2. The proper names of men and women, as, Pietro, Peter; Teresa, Theresa, &c., receive no article. But we often use it before the surnames and family names of persons who have distinguished themselves by some quality or talent. Ex. l'Ariosto, Ariosto; il Tasso, Tasso; la Pasta, &c. 3. The names of cities and towns in general do not admit the article. Except l'Aja, the Hague; il Cairo, Cairo; la Mirandola, il Finale (towns in Italy), which take it. 4. The article is also omitted before the names of countries : 1st, when they are governed by the preposition in : as, egli è in America, he is in America; è andato in Russia, he is gone to Russia; 2dly, when they are united to a preceding noun by the preposition di, of: as, vino di Spagna, Spanish wine; il clima d'Italia, the climate of Italy; 3dly, when speaking of countries, and in going or returning from them as, vado in Francia, I am going to France; vengo d'Italia, I come from Italy, &c.—But, in speaking of very distant countries, we use the article: as, ritorno dalle Indie, dal Perù, dalla Cina, &c. INDEFINITE ARTICLE. The English indefinite article a or an is expressed in Italian by uno, una. Uno is used before a masculine noun; but the o is suppressed before all nouns beginning with a vowel or a consonant, except the s impure and z. EXAMPLES. Noм. un campo, a field. ABL. da un campo, from or by a field. NOм, uno scolaro, a scholar. |