"The shark"

Translation: Lo squalo

[mwerneck]

Why "lo" and not "il"?

[f.formica]

When "s" is followed by a consonant it's called "s impura" (impure s) and it changes the article to "lo" and "uno"; the same happens when the word starts with gn, ps, pt (rare), pn, x (rare), z, and semiconsonant i (a sound archaically represented by j).

[karelia811]

As in "lo zucchero" right? What else?