Answers
Apr 13, 2014 - 07:55 AM
You'll learn about this in later lessons. What you're seeing though, is not il. The proper article for masculine nouns that begin with a vowel is 'Lo."
Therefore, Lo aeroporto becomes L'aeroporto. etc.
Therefore, Lo aeroporto becomes L'aeroporto. etc.
Apr 13, 2014 - 02:18 PM
I thought that Lo was only for words beginning in z or an s+ another consonant.
Apr 20, 2014 - 11:25 AM
Jon, though "il" ends in a consonant, it does seem to flow better as l' than as il. In the movie "the American" with George Clooney in Italy, one of the lines that I enjoy most is when and Italian asks George if he is the American and George responds back: "Si', il Americano". The Italian laughs and says: "No, L'americano, L'Americano." I like the little Italian lesson in the middle of the movie, but I think it also represents what I've experienced in Italy -- the fact that they love to hear us attempt their language and are ready to help us learn it. To me, it does seem to flow better.
Apr 21, 2014 - 09:54 PM
There is no "reason" except it flows better, making Italian easier to speak--and thus faster, as you will find out as the speed of dialogue gets going in the more advanced levels (just finished 4). Watch some movies in Italian to get the feel of it!!
May 27, 2014 - 06:10 AM
Hi Jon
Well, the contraction is due to pronunciation, but it doesn't come from "il", but from "lo". Italian has several articles, it can be a bit confusing, so we introduce them little by little.
For masculine nouns we have:
- il: used before consonants (il ragazzo)
- lo: used before z and s followed by another consonant (lo zio, lo specchio)
- l' : used before vowels (l'amico).
So, the "l'" comes from "lo", and it's easier to pronounce "l'amico" than "lo amico". Note this not colloquial or just used when speaking, it's the formal form and used in writing as well.
Here are some interesting websites in case you feel like doing some further reading:
http://italian.about.com/library/fare...
http://www.italiangrammarsite.net/Cha...
Well, the contraction is due to pronunciation, but it doesn't come from "il", but from "lo". Italian has several articles, it can be a bit confusing, so we introduce them little by little.
For masculine nouns we have:
- il: used before consonants (il ragazzo)
- lo: used before z and s followed by another consonant (lo zio, lo specchio)
- l' : used before vowels (l'amico).
So, the "l'" comes from "lo", and it's easier to pronounce "l'amico" than "lo amico". Note this not colloquial or just used when speaking, it's the formal form and used in writing as well.
Here are some interesting websites in case you feel like doing some further reading:
http://italian.about.com/library/fare...
http://www.italiangrammarsite.net/Cha...