Languages › Italian When to Use the Elision in Italian Learn how to use the elision in Italian Share Flipboard Email Print Learn how to use the elision in Italian. vgajic Italian Grammar History & Culture Vocabulary By Michael San Filippo Italian Expert M.A., Italian Studies, Middlebury College B.A., Biology, Northeastern University Michael San Filippo co-wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide to Italian History and Culture. He is a tutor of Italian language and culture. our editorial process Michael San Filippo Updated March 17, 2017 In Italian linguistics, elision is the omission of a unaccented final vowel before a word beginning with a vowel or the (since the letter “h” is silent). Normally, in spoken Italian, many elisions take place unconsciously, but only a portion of them are accepted forms in written Italian where they are marked with an apostrophe. A phenomenon similar to elision is called vocalic apocopation. It differs from elision, though, since an apostrophe is never used. The Spoken Elision and the Written Elision In theory, elisions are possible whenever two vowels are adjacent at the beginning or end of adjoining words—especially when those vowels are the same. In practice though, elisions have become less frequent in contemporary Italian, which is ironic since the so-called d eufonica has become increasingly common. Certain elisions seem automatic, like how “l'amico - (male) friend” and “l'amica - (female) friend” sound much better than “lo amico” and “la amica.” However, others may appear superfluous, like “una idea » un'idea.” And certain joined elisions result in awkward spellings with more apostrophes than necessary, like “d'un'altra casa - of another home.” Here are the primary words that can be elided in Italian: Lo, la (as articles or pronouns), una and compounds, questo, questa, quello, quella L'albero - Tree L’uomo - Man L'ho vista - I saw her / it Un'antica via - an old street Nient’altro - Nothing else Nessun'altra- Nothing else Quest'orso - This bear Quest'alunna - This student The preposition “di” and other grammatical morphemes ending in -i, like the pronouns mi, ti, si, vi D'andare - About going D'Italia - Of Italy Dell’altro - Other D’accordo - Of agreement (e.g Sono d’accordo - I agree) D’oro - Of gold M'ha parlato - He talked to me M'ascolti? - Are you listening to me? T'alzi presto? - Did you get up early? S'avviò - He proceeded S'udirono - (They) were heard V'illudono - They are deceiving you The preposition da is usually not elided, except in a few fixed phrases D'altronde - Moreover D’altra parte - Somewhere else D'ora in poi - From now on For ci and gli (and also as an article), there must be continuity with the usual spelling of the sounds: ci, ce, cia, cio, ciu; gli, glie, glia, glio, gliu. That is to say, ci is elided before e- or i-, while gli elides only before another i-. Accordingly c'indicò la strada - he / she showed us the road C'è - there is c’era(no) - there was / there are C'eravamo - There was gl'Italiani - Italians Gl'impedirono T’acchiappo - I catch you Some exceptions are: ci andò - he / she went there ci obbligarono - they forced us gli alberi - trees gli ultimi - the last The particle (particella) : se n'andò - he / she left. Many other words such as santo, santa, senza, bello, bella, buono, buona, grande: Sant'Angelo - Saint Angel Sant'Anna - Saint Anna Senz'altro - Certainly, definitely Bell'affare - Good business Bell'amica - Good friend Buon’anima - Good soul Grand'uomo - Great man Others: Mezz’ora - Half hour A quattr’occhi - Face to face Ardo d’amore - I’m burning with love for you Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Filippo, Michael San. "When to Use the Elision in Italian." ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020, thoughtco.com/italian-elision-2011588. Filippo, Michael San. (2020, August 26). When to Use the Elision in Italian. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/italian-elision-2011588 Filippo, Michael San. "When to Use the Elision in Italian." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/italian-elision-2011588 (accessed April 16, 2021). copy citation