Learn Romance Languages Vocabulary Together - French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese Vocabulary Side-by-Side

Romance Languages Vocabulary: Articles and Demonstratives

Learn French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese together


return to list of categories


Click a button to hide or show that language:

Click in the first row and drag left or right to change the order of the columns.


English French Italian Spanish Portuguese
Definite article        
the (masculine) le / l' il / lo / l' el o
the (feminine) la / l' la / l' la a
the (masc. plural) les i / gli los os
the (fem. plural) les le las as
         
Indefinite article        
a / an (masculine) un un un um
a / an (feminine) une una / un' una uma
some (masc. plural) des dei / degli unos uns
some (fem. plural) des delle unas umas
         
Demonstrative adjectives        
this (masculine) ce / cet ... -ci questo / quest' este êste
this (feminine) cette ... -ci questa / quest' esta êsta
these (masculine) ces ... -ci questi estos êstes
these (feminine) ces ... -ci queste estas êstas
         
that (masculine) ce / cet ... -là quel / quello / quel' ese êsse
that (feminine) cette ... -là quella / quell' esa êssa
those (masculine) ces ... -là quei / quegli esos êsses
those (feminine) ces ... -là quelle esas êssas
         
that [further away] (masculine) ce / cet ... -là quel / quello / quel' aquel aquele
that [further away] (feminine) cette ... -là quella / quell' aquella aquela
those [further away] (masculine) ces ... -là quei / quegli aquellos aqueles
those [further away] (feminine) ces ... -là quelle aquellas aquelas
         
Demonstrative Pronouns        
this (masculine) celui-ci questo éste êste
this (feminine) celle-ci questa ésta êsta
these (masculine) ceux-ci questi éstos êstes
these (feminine) celles-ci queste éstas êstas
         
that (masculine) celui-là quello ése êsse
that (feminine) celle-là quella ésa êssa
those (masculine) ceux-là quelli ésos êsses
those (feminine) celles-là quelle ésas êssas
         
that [further away] (masculine) celui-là quello aquél aquele
that [further away] (feminine) celle-là quella aquélla aquela
those [further away] (masculine) ceux-là quelli aquéllos aqueles
those [further away] (feminine) celles-là quelle aquéllas aquelas

 

  1. French and Italian forms that end in an apostrophe (such as l' or quest') are used directly before words beginning with a vowel.

  2. Italian definite articles: il is used with most masculine nouns, but lo is used before nouns beginning with z, gn, ps, or s + consonant. The plural form of il is i, while the plural form of lo and l' is gli.

  3. A neuter form of the Spanish definite article also exists: lo It is used to make adjectives into nouns that exist as concepts or categories, such as lo importante - what is important.

  4. French and Italian technically do not have the plural indefinite articles comparable to Spanish and Portuguese. However, to express the some + plural noun, you can use the forms above in bold italics. In Italian, dei is used before most plural nouns beginning with a consonant, while degli is used before plural nouns beginning with a vowel, or z, gn, ps, or s + consonant.

  5. French demonstrative adjectives: ce is used before masculine nouns beginning with a consonant, while cet is used before masculine nouns beginning with a vowel or h. The forms -ci and -là are added to the end of the noun to indicate the difference in distance (this vs. that, these vs. those).

  6. Italian demonstrative adjectives: the forms of quel- follow the same pattern as for the definite articles.

  7. Spanish and Portuguese have three sets of demonstratives because they make the distinction between here (this, these), there (that, those) and even further over there / away (that, those). This last form no longer exists in English, French, or Italian.

  8. Spanish and Portuguese also have neuter demonstratives that do not replace nouns, but rather refer to a previous statement: esto / eso / aquello in Spanish and isto / isso / aquilo in Portuguese.

  9. Notice that the Spanish demonstrative adjectives and pronouns only differ because of the accent mark on the e's, and that the Portuguese forms are identical.

 


Return to top of page









Learn languages with videos and subtitles at FluentU

FluentU offers authentic videos in French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, English, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Learn from interactive subtitles, translations, flashcards, and quizzes with access to ALL languages in one account.

Learn languages by reading Interlinear Books

Learn to read languages with interlinear bilingual books that include the original language and an English translation below in a smaller font. Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Dutch, French, Filipino, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish are available.

Learn languages with videos and subtitles at Yabla

Learn Spanish, French, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese and English with authentic videos by Yabla that include interactive subtitles and translations.

Donate to ielanguages.com

If you enjoy this website, please consider sending a donation through Paypal to help support ielanguages.com. Thank you very much!









© | About | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy