# 5 The indefinite article in Italian

You'll need to know how to say 'a' (or 'an') in Italian.

## Language: Indefinite article un/uno/una/un’

The Italian equivalent of English ‘a’ or ‘an’ (the indefinite article) is either un, uno, una or un’. The form depends on whether the noun it relates to is masculine or feminine and whether the noun starts with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) or a consonant.

Masculine nouns

Use un with most masculine nouns:

- un bicchierea glass
- un aperitivoan aperitif

Use uno before a masculine noun beginning with s + consonant (for example sc-, sp-):

- uno scontrinoa receipt
- uno spuntinoa snack

Use uno before a masculine noun beginning with gn, pn, ps, x, z, or with i or y followed by another vowel:

- uno zioan uncle
- uno yogurta yogurt

Feminine nouns

Use una with a feminine noun beginning with a consonant:

- una birraa beer
- una pizzaa pizza

Use un’ before a feminine noun beginning with a vowel:

- un'aranciataan orangeade
- un’acqua mineralea mineral water

## Activity 11

From following the explanation above, add the appropriate indefinite article un, uno, una or un’ to each of the following words.

Example: un gelato

##

___ acqua minerale | ___ succo di frutta
___ vino bianco | ___ amaro
___ scontrino | ___ bar
___ pasta | ___ acqua gassata
___ espresso | ___ succo di mela
___ spumante | ___ aranciata
___ pizza | ___ cornetto

### Answer

##

un’acqua minerale | un succo di frutta
un vino bianco | un amaro
uno scontrino | un bar
una pasta | un’acqua gassata
un espresso | un succo di mela
uno spumante | un’aranciata
una pizza | un cornetto

OpenLearn - Beginners’ Italian: food and drink
Except for third party materials and otherwise, this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence, full copyright detail can be found in the acknowledgements section. Please see full copyright statement for details.