| THE INDEFINITE Article | Homepage | ||||||||
| The Indefinite Article | French | Italian | Portuguese | Romanian | Spanish | Translation | |||
| Singular | Masculine | un ami | un amigo/ uno studente | um amigo | un amic | un amigo | a friend | ||
| Feminine | une valise | una valigia | uma maleta | o valiză | una maleta | a suitcase | |||
| Neutral | None | None | None | un stilou | None | a pen | |||
| Plural | Masculine | des amis | uni amici/ studenti | uns amigos | unii amici | unos amigos | some friends | ||
| Feminine | des valises | une valigie | umas maletas | unele valize | unas maletas | some suitcases | |||
| Neutral | None | None | None | unele stilouri | None | some pens | |||
| How to Avoid Confusions? | |||||||||
| The indefinite article is used to express an unspecific entity or more than one entity, but not the whole group. | |||||||||
| Examples: Un muchacho te llama (Spanish: One boy calls you), Elle vend des tulipes (French: She sells tulips). | |||||||||
| In negative sentences, the article is ommited in Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish. In French it is replaced by de. | |||||||||
| Examples: Non vendono pane (Italian: They don't sell bread), Je ne veux pas de vin (French: I don't want wine). | |||||||||
| In French and Italian, the partitive articles are often used; they are not used in Spanish, Romanian, and in Portuguese. | |||||||||
| They are generally used with a singular noun that can be divided in very small quantities, like liquids and food. | |||||||||
| In French: de + definite article (du, de la, des). Examples: Je bois du vin blanc (I drink white wine). | |||||||||
| In Italian: di + definite article (del, dello, della, dei, degli, delle). Examples: Compro della carne (I buy meat). | |||||||||
| Romanian has three genders (masculine, feminine, and neutral), and as such three sets of articles. | |||||||||
| For the neutral gender, the article is a combination of the masculine (for singular) and of the feminine (for the plural). | |||||||||