"They are our men."

Translation: Loro sono i nostri uomini.

[vfcampi]

the article is only gli when coming directly in front of words that need it. If another word separates, then it reverts to i. this works with adjectives too, for the adjectives that can go in front of the noun: gli studenti nuovi or i nuovi studenti.

[zachphillips]

Thank you! That's very helpful.

[Sikeryali]

Grazie mille

[Lunarxa]

Great answer, thanks

[elischeva]

Grazie

[Clerkly]

Grazie

[henrybrice]

Does the article not change according to the noun if there is a possessive pronoun in between them? You would say "gli uomini", but "i nostri uomini"?

[Davoskan]

'Gli' is used when the next word starts with a vowel. In this case, you've got "nostri" that gets in the way.

[yuioyuio]

I accept the rule, but I keep wondering why it is so.

And why you say l'uomo, in the first place. While it's obvious with feminine nouns, what is wrong with il uomo (theoretically of course) - it's not hard to say, there are no two vowels near each other. And wouldn't it be easier?... I mean, when you learn l'uomo it doesn't indicate if it's feminine or masculine (although it's quite obvious in this case). It's a good thing the noun's ending is a clue as to the gender in Italian ;)

And how they got from l' to gli, I have no idea. With la-le and il-i it's understandable, but gli?

Just wondeing...

[Augustdh]

@yuioyuio You make a very good point!

[hnojpena]

Gli is the article for plural masculine nouns. For example:
(S) (Pl)
l'uomo gli uomini
l'elefante gli elefanti
l'insetto gli insetti

I believe this is right.

[msorrell]

Why is it necessary to have "i" for this to be marked correct when the adjective is supposed to be optional after a form of "essere" (which I believe I read directly in the lesson notes for this section)?

[Gh0stwheel]

Only when the pronoun is the only word after a form of essere,
is the definite article (the) optional.
In this case, it is followed by uomini...

[Glen261004]

thank you - very helpful

[bolyuba]

You come to me on the day of my daughter's wedding and take my last heart away?

[708]

Difference of nostro and nostri?

[nati_gilbi]

It depends on the object that the person possesses. our horses = nostri cavalli, our cat = nostro gatto

[Lucianocanto1]

From what I've noticed, if the word you are referring to ends with an i then you use i nostri, and if it ends with an o then use nostro. However I am not sure if that's the case for all

[pkwatz]

My question is do you need the article at all?

[JoseeV64]

Yes, because it is needed according to the Italian grammar rules.

[DanielStaiber]

No, nobody in Italy would say that and I would like to see the rule that makes it compulsory. It is redundant as it is clear what is talked about. Same as one can say 'Sono una vedova' or 'Io sono una vedova' (I am a widow). :)

[JoseeV64]

The question (6 years ago) was about the article "i", not about the pronoun. You are right that the pronoun "loro" is not necessary, but the article "i" is.

[GladysSoli2]

How do u distinguish between nostri nostro

[DannyTPA]

Masculine singular: Nostro

Masculine plural: Nostri

Example:

Il nostro cane (masculine singular)

I nostri cani (masculine plural)

Hope that helps!

[CakeVoid_The_YT]

Nostri is plural

[queensnopea]

There was a bit in the "tips" section that said after a plain essere form you didn't need the article. I wrote "Sono nostri uomini." since I've noticed the subject being dropped in many places and had read this tip about dropping the article, but it was marked wrong.

Unclear if this is duolingo just not knowing how to handle this alternative translation or if it's actually wrong.

[Gh0stwheel]

Only when the pronoun is the only word after a form of essere,
is the definite article (the) optional.
In this case, it is followed by uomini...

[Juice7007]

Would "Loro sono i propri uomini/ le propria (spelling/plural?) donne" transate similarly? Would propri or propria be for objects or countable objects and not people?

[RustyM86]

Why is it sometimes 'il loro' and sometimes just 'loro'. I've put both and I feel like I get it wrong every time.

[Thumbles6]

Why not "sono gli nostri uomini" without the pronoun loro

[Gh0stwheel]

sono gli nostri uomini

The omission of the pronoun is ok, but not so the choice of definite article.
If you'd have written "sono i nostri uomini", it should also have been accepted.

[kim434882]

Why doesn't this sentence begin with "Il loro ..."?

[Glen261004]

sometimes after essere there is no article with the possessive. I wrote this as loro soon nostril uomini which was corrected to 'i nostri'. other times when I have used an article this has been corrected the other way round. is there an easy way to know which is which?

[Gh0stwheel]

The rule is that the definite article is optional only if the possessive is the only word following a form of essere.

Here it is not the only word after "sono", as the word "uomini" follows. Therefor the definite article is mandatory.

• Loro sono i nostri uomini (so here the definite article is a must)
• Loro sono nostri (optional)
• Loro sono i nostri (optional)