How to say "the" in Italian: before vowels

19th May 2019

L', le, gli... there are many different ways to say "the" in Italian! Learn how to say it before vowels in this episode of 5 Minute Italian.

No.65

Listen to the episode

Why is Italian food so tasty? In this lesson, Matteo reveals the very simple secret. You'll also learn how to say "the" in Italian, before words which start with a vowel. Find out more in episode 65 of 5 minute Italian.

To remember what you learnt in today's lesson, below you'll find bonus materials including word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first...

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Today's Italian Vocabulary

Gli italiani cucinano molto bene = Italians cook really well.

Qual è il vostro segreto? = What's your secret?

Gli = the

italiani = Italians

cucinano = they cook

molto bene = very well

Qual è = which is

il vostro segreto = your secret

Gli ingredienti sono la chiave = Ingredients are the key.

Gli = the

ingredienti = ingredients

sono = are

la chiave = the key

Con ingredienti freschi, tutto è buono = With fresh ingredients, everything is tasty.

Con = with

ingredienti = ingredients

freschi = fresh

tutto = everything

è = is

buono = good or tasty

In Italia abbiamo molto sole = In Italy, we have lots of sun

In Italia = in Italy,

abbiamo = we have

molto sole = lots of sun

Quindi è facile trovare prodotti buoni come le olive, le arance ecc. = So it's easy to find good produce like olives, oranges, etc.

quindi = so

è facile = it's easy

trovare = to find

prodotti = produce

buoni = good

come = like

le olive = the olives

le arance = the oranges

ecc = etc

Poi, la presentazione è molto importante = Then, presentation is very important.

Poi = then

La presentazione = the presentation

è = is

molto importante = very important

Mangi prima con gli occhi = You eat first with the eyes.

Mangi = you eat

Prima = first

Con = with

Gli = the

Occhi = eyes

Poi con lo stomaco = Then with the stomach

poi = then

con = with

lo stomaco = the stomach

L'oliva = the olive

L'arancia = the orange

L'olio = the oil

Le olive = the olives

Le arance = the oranges

Gli italiani = the Italians

Gli ingredienti = the ingredients

Gli americani = the Americans

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Flashcards

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Transcript

Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.

Katie: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 Minute Italian, I’m Katie.

M: And I’m Matteo. Ciao! 

K: And today we're going to continue learning how to say "the" in Italian. In this episode, we're going to look at words which start with vowels. Let's listen to the dialogue first.

M: Cominciamo. Let's start.

K: Gli italiani cucinano molto bene. Qual è il vostro segreto?

M: Gli ingredienti sono la chiave. Con ingredienti freschi, tutto è buono. In Italia abbiamo molto sole, quindi è facile trovare prodotti buoni come le olive, le arance ecc.

K: Giusto.

M: Poi, la presentazione è molto importante. Mangi prima con gli occhi, poi con lo stomaco.

K: So I first asked Matteo:

M: Gli italiani cucinano molto bene. Qual è il vostro segreto?

K: Italians cook really well. What's your secret? Word for word, that's:

M:

Gli = the

italiani = Italians

cucinano = they cook

molto bene = very well

Qual è = which is

il vostro segreto = your secret

K: And Matteo's answer was:

M: Gli ingredienti sono la chiave.

K: Ingredients are the key. Word for word, that's

M:

Gli = the

ingredienti = ingredients

sono = are

la chiave = the key

K: Next, you heard:

M: Con ingredienti freschi, tutto è buono.

K: With fresh ingredients, everything is tasty. So that's

M:

Con = with

ingredienti = ingredients

freschi = fresh

tutto = everything

è = is

buono = good or tasty

K: Next...

M: In Italia abbiamo molto sole

K: In Italy, we have lots of sun

M:

In Italia = in Italy,

abbiamo = we have

molto sole = lots of sun

K: next...

M: quindi è facile trovare prodotti buoni come le olive, le arance ecc.

K: so it's easy to find good produce like olives, oranges, etc.

quindi = so

è facile = it's easy

trovare = to find

prodotti = produce

buoni = good

come = like

le olive = the olives

le arance = the oranges

ecc = etc

K: Then, Matteo said:

M: Poi, la presentazione è molto importante.

K: Then, presentation is very important.

M:

Poi = then

La presentazione = the presentation

è = is

molto importante = very important

K: Finally, you heard Matteo say

M: Mangi prima con gli occhi

K: You eat first with the eyes. Word for word...

M:

Mangi = you eat

Prima = first

Con = with

Gli = the

Occhi = eyes

K: and....

M: poi con lo stomaco.

K: then with the stomach

M:

poi = then

con = with

lo stomaco = the stomach

K: In this conversation, we had lots of examples of words starting with vowels. For example: gli italiani, le olive and le arance. So what happens to the word "the" when it's before a vowel? If the word is singular, it's simple, just add "l". For example, if "olive" is oliva in the singular, how would you say "the olive"?

M: L'oliva

K: And orange is "arancia". So how would you say "the orange"?

M: l'arancia

K: Oliva and arancia are feminine words, but it's the same for masculine words. For example, olio (oil). How would you say "the oil"?

M: L'olio

K: Next, let's look at plurals. For feminine nouns, it's simple, you just use the same word as we talked about in the last lesson "le". So if I wanted to say "the olives", what would I say?

M: Le olive

K: What about "the oranges"?

M: Le arance.

K: So far so good. There is just one part of this which is a bit tricky. It's worth paying a lot of attention to because it feels irregular, which can cause people trouble right up to advanced levels. When you have a masculine plural that starts with a vowel, we don't say "i", as we do with other masculine plurals in Italian. Instead, we say "gli". For example, in the conversation, we heard "the Italians". Just a little reminder that in Italian, when we have a mixed group of men and women together, we still use the masculine plural = italiani. So how would you say "the Italians?"

M: Gli italiani

K: Ottimo. And we also heard "the ingredients" can you remember how Matteo said it?

M: Gli ingredienti

K: So now, I can hear you thinking - OK Katie, I get that for masculine plurals with vowels, you're supposed to use "gli". But how on earth am I supposed to remember all that information when I'm speaking? And you're absolutely right, I remember thinking the same thing, and this is why it's normal to make mistakes with this even at advanced levels. My tip is to start by memorising the most important ones that you'll probably say quite often. For example:

M:

Gli italiani

Gli americani

Gli occhi

Once you get used to these, you'll find it easier to generalise to less common words.

K: Finally, why did we say "lo stomaco" for the stomach? We'll talk about that in the next episode!

So that's it for today, remember you can practise chatting in Italian with us in our 5 Minute Italian facebook group, follow the link in the show notes and we'll let you in as soon as we see your request. We'd love to see you in there and chat in Italian with you. You can also get bonus materials, like a quiz, flashcards, and see all the phrases for today's lesson written down by going to  joyoflanguages.com/italianpodcast and scrolling down to episode 65. Or just follow the link in the show notes.

Ciao for now, see you next time or as we say in Italian,

M: Alla prossima!

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Related episodes

#64: How to say "the" in Italian: the basics

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Bellissimo!