L'articolo inderminativo "uno"

[Bella_Italia]

Hey,

My question is basically when to use "uno". I know that you use it before any word starting with a z or s (and a few other examples) but everything that I have looked at says to use "uno" only when the z or s if followed by a consonant.

I was just puzzled if you would say "uno zaino" since the z is followed by a vowel in this case...or just "un zaino". Does "uno" apply to words like "zaino" even though the second letter is a vowel....or do you use "uno" no matter if a vowel follows the first consonant?

I hope this makes sense...I understand everything else about when to use what...just wanted to clear that up.

Thanks

 

[morgana]

You must use UNO instead of UN when the following word starts with Z (uno zaino) or with a group of consonants (uno specchio, uno psicologo, uno gnomo).
The Z doesn't have to be with another consonant (I think we don't have a single word starting with z+consonant, actually).

Cheers

 

[Bella_Italia]

ok thanks very much...