Italian Steps - Getting breakfast - Language notes

Un cappuccino, per favore.
Una cioccolata e una pasta, per favore.

• There are different words for 'a' in Italian, because all Italian things, as well as people, are classed as either masculine or feminine.

• You use un with nearly all masculine words. Most masculine words end in -o.



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un  un

cappuccino aperitivo

a cappuccino an aperitif

• You use una with feminine words; it shortens to un' before a vowel. Most words ending in -a are feminine.



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una  un'

cioccolata aranciata

a hot chocolate a fresh orange juice

• It's not obvious whether words ending in other letters are masculine or feminine, but dictionaries will help you out by showing f (for feminine) or m (for masculine) after the word.



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un  una

caffè m stazione f

an espresso coffee a station

• Don't worry too much if you get un or una wrong, as most of the time it doesn't affect meaning.