il

the

article EEL Common

Origin: from Latin ille ('that')

Usage Note

Il is the masculine singular definite article used before most consonants; it becomes lo before s+consonant, z, gn, ps (e.g. lo studente) and l' before a vowel. The plural is i (or gli in the lo/l' cases). Italian uses it far more than English, even with abstract nouns and possessives.

Examples

"Il treno arriva alle otto."

Natural Translation

The train arrives at eight.

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