Indefinite articles and singular nouns

These articles correspond to the English a/an.

Nouns name a person, an object, an idea, an animal or a place. Every noun is either masculine or feminine.

• • Nouns ending in –o are masculine.
  • Nouns ending in –a are feminine.
  • Nouns ending in –e can be masculine or feminine.

How can you tell which words ending in –e are masculine or feminine? You can’t just by looking at them. It is simply a matter of memorization. However, here are two hints you can use to distinguish some of these words:

• Nouns ending in –ione are always feminine, i.e. una nazione; una stazione.
• Nouns ending in –ore are always masculine, i.e. un dottore; un signore.

Exceptions:

• Foreign nouns are almost always masculine, i.e. un bar, un toast.
• Most nouns ending in –ma are masculine, i.e. un problema; un sistema; un panorama; un programma.
• Nouns ending in –ista are both masculine and feminine, i.e. un/una barista; un/una turista.