The lesson
To say a or an, Italian has four short words: un, uno, una and un’. You use them much as you use a in English: to order something (un caffè, per favore), to ask whether something is there (c’è una banca?), or to mention something for the first time.
English picks a or an from the next sound. Italian asks one more question: is the noun masculine or feminine? Answer those two questions and the right word picks itself. The definite articles (il, lo, la) come next and follow very similar sound rules, so this lesson does double duty.
un and una: the everyday forms
Masculine nouns take un and feminine nouns take una. Most nouns ending in -o are masculine and most ending in -a are feminine, so the ending is usually your best clue.
Most nouns start with an ordinary consonant, so un and una are the two forms you’ll use most by far.
Learn every new noun with its article: una mela, un caffè. Then you never have to guess its gender later.
Nouns ending in -e: learn them with their article
Nouns ending in -e can be masculine or feminine, and the ending gives you no clue: un melone (a melon) but una chiave (a key). The only safe way is to learn each one as a pair.
One pattern helps: most nouns ending in -ione are feminine, like una stazione and una lezione.
uno: before s + consonant and z
Masculine nouns that start with s + consonant (sp, st, sc…) or z take uno instead of un. So do the rarer starts gn and ps. Try saying un spuntino aloud: the extra vowel in uno spuntino makes it much easier to say.
Uno is masculine only. A feminine noun keeps una, whatever it starts with: una zucchina, una studentessa.
An s followed by a vowel is an ordinary start: un succo (a juice), una sedia (a chair). Only s + consonant needs uno.
Before a vowel: un for masculine, un’ for feminine
Before a vowel, masculine nouns keep plain un, with no apostrophe: un amico, un albergo. Feminine una drops its final -a and becomes un’, joined to the noun with no space: un’amica, un’arancia.
Why the difference? An apostrophe marks a missing letter. Una loses its -a, so it gets one. Un is already a complete word that you use before consonants too, so nothing is missing and there’s nothing to mark.
If you see un’, the noun is feminine. Un’amico is always a mistake.
Hearing the difference
Un amico and un’amica sound almost the same, because the n runs straight into the vowel in both. So don’t listen for the apostrophe: listen for the end of the noun. -o tells you it’s a man, -a a woman.
Writing is the other way round. You have to choose, so decide on the gender before your pen reaches the article.
Un also means one
Italian has no separate word for one in front of a noun: un, uno and una do both jobs. Un euro is a euro or one euro, and un caffè e due cornetti is one coffee and two croissants.
That also explains why there’s no plural: these words always mean a single thing. For more than one, English simply drops a (an apple, apples), and for now you can do the same. Later you’ll meet dei, degli and delle, the Italian words for some.
When Italian uses un and una
Mostly just as English does: to order (un caffè, per favore), to ask whether something is there (c’è una banca qui?) and to point something out (ecco un bar: here’s a café).
One difference you’ll meet soon: with jobs, Italian usually leaves the article out. English says I’m a student; Italian says sono studente. You’ll practise that with essere (to be).
Common mistakes
- un’amicoun amicoMasculine un never takes an apostrophe, even before a vowel.
- una amicaun’amicaBefore a vowel, una drops its -a and becomes un’.
- un specchiouno specchioMasculine nouns starting with s + consonant take uno.
- uno studentessauna studentessaUno is masculine only; feminine nouns keep una.
- uno cornettoun cornettoUno is only for s + consonant, z, gn and ps; a plain c takes un.
- una meloneun meloneMelone ends in -e but is masculine. Learn -e nouns with their article.
The full table
Pick the article from the noun’s gender and first sound. There’s no plural: “a” is always one thing.
| m · most nouns | un libro, un caffè |
| m · s + consonant, z, gn, ps | uno zaino, uno studente |
| m · vowel | un amico (no apostrophe) |
| f · most nouns | una casa, una stazione |
| f · vowel | un’amica, un’arancia |
Un’ only ever comes before a feminine noun. Un’amico is always a mistake.
Feminine nouns never take uno: una zucchina, una studentessa.
In short
- Masculine: un (most nouns, including those starting with a vowel), uno (s + consonant, z, gn, ps).
- Feminine: una (consonants), un’ (vowels, with the apostrophe).
- With un, the apostrophe only ever appears before feminine nouns: un amico, un’amica.
- There’s no plural: un, uno and una are about a single thing, and they double as one.
- Learn every noun with its article: un melone, una chiave.