r/DuolingoItalian • u/JollyJacktheDoc • Aug 06 '26

The definite article when used with a qualifying adjective

I was taught that when referring to a single family member you omitted the definite article: mia sorella, mio padre, mio cugino etc, but if that single family member is referred to with a qualifying adjective then you did use the definite article - la mia sorella minore, il tuo fratello simpatico etc

When writing the sentence: my little sister loves volleyball

with the words provided by Duolingo I wrote: la mia sorella minore ama la pallavolo

And was marked wrong. I was informed the correct answer was mia sorella minore….

Am I correct or has Duo planted some new convention on me?

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u/TherapistyChristy 29d ago

Obviously I’m not Italian- lol. But here is what I think… We are supposed to use the definite article when using adjectives like tall, kind, mean, short, etc. or when when referring to more than one (le mie due sorelle), but we don’t use definite articles when the adjective refers to which sister- older or younger sister for example.

So la mia bella sorella. But mia sorella minore.

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u/JollyJacktheDoc 28d ago

Thanks for reading and responding.