In one lesson, I read: “Mia fliglia” meaning “my daughter”. In another, I read: “il tuo gator” meaning “your cat.”. When do we put “il” or "la’ before “Mio” or “tuo” and when don’t we?
Daisy, the definite articles are not used when you are speaking/writing about nouns that refer to family members, such as
mio figlio, mio zio, mia madre, mio fratello, etc.
BUT…il mio gatto, la mia macchina, etc.
However, for terms that refer to family members, this is true only in the singular. The definite articles are used in the plural. For example,
i miei fratelli, le mie sorelle, le nostre madri, etc.
Hope this helps.
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Thank you.
thanks! helpful
I am afraid that I have been confused again:
You remember when you told me that the definite articles are not used when you are speaking/writing about nouns that refer to family members, such as
mio figlio, mio zio, mia madre, mio fratello, etc.
BUT…il mio gatto, la mia macchina, etc.
However, for terms that refer to family members, this is true only in the singular. The definite articles are used in the plural. For example,
i miei fratelli, le mie sorelle, le nostre madri, etc.
But:
“nostra mamma guarda sempre il telegiornale” meaning: “our mum always watches the news.” (Course 3. Lesson 19.) “Our mother” is a plural definite article, so why does the sentence not read: “la nostra mamma” rather than “nostra mamma?”
Hi Daisy,
Yes, the definite articles are used when kinship terms are used in the plural. For example:
Sua madre (his/her mother); le sue madri (his/her mothers)
When you use the “loro” form for “their,” we always use the definite article: la loro madre (their mother); le loro madri (their mothers).
With the word “nostra” (our), even though the word “our” refers to more than one person, the noun “madre” is still in the singular, so there is no definite article:
Nostra madre (our mother), le nostre madri (our mothers).
I hope that helps.
Barry
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Thank you?
But
“La mia famiglia” meaning “my family.” Italian 6. Lesson 16.