Article Elision Before Feminine I/U

Level 6

Feminine la stays separate before an unstressed initial i or u, including after silent h.

How It Works

Elision replaces the vowel of the singular article with an apostrophe: l'amic, l'hora. The following noun keeps its gender even though l’ looks the same for both. Plural els and les never elide.

The feminine exception concerns an unstressed initial i or u, including after silent h. L'illa contrasts with la història; l'ungla contrasts with la universitat. A written accent can make stress obvious, but absence of an accent does not prove that the first vowel is unstressed. Consonantal initial i/u is a separate reason not to elide, as in la iaia. Keep those two explanations distinct when proofreading.

Examples (3)

  1. L'illa és petita.

    The island is small.

  2. La història és llarga.

    The story is long.

  3. La universitat és pública.

    The university is public.

How It Connects

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Article Elision Before Feminine I/ULevel 6

Learn This First

Check vowel and silent-h elision before focusing on feminine i/u.

Words in This Pattern