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ARTICLES

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE

General form:
 

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	o	os
Feminine	a	as
Neuter	o	--

As we can see, the article has to agree in gender and number with the noun or noun phrase it modifies.
This general form is used before a word beginning with a consonant (or a vowel soundend lik a consonant); otherwise we shall use other different forms, according to the situation:

1. Before a singular noun beginning with the same vowel as that of the article, the form l' is to be used, e.g: l'ombre (the man), l'augua (the water), l'onso (the bear). Of course, there is no change before a plural word.
2. After a word ending in a vowel coincidental with that of the article, the older, full forms of the article are used: lo, la, los, las, e.g: trayeba la chenta (I was bringing the lunch), prenzipio lo triballo (I'm beginning the work).

 

 
 
 

Apart from that, prepositions are usually contrated when preceeding the article; this contraction is especially common with de (of, from): d'o, d'a, d'os, d'as, and ta (to): t'o, t'a, t'os, t'as.
 
 

It is also an inflected form showing the agreement with the noun in gender and number.

Form:
 

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	un	unos
Feminine	una	unas
Neuter	un	--

Among prepositions, only de (of, from) is usually contracted when preceeding the indefinite article: d'un, d'una, d'unos, d'unas; e.g: una muller (a woman), un siñal (a sign), una ora (an hour), unos mesaches (some boys), a fabla d'un país (the language of a country, unas biellas (some old women).