Italian possessives normally take the article: il mio libro, la mia casa, i miei amici, le mie amiche. With a SINGLE family member the article drops - mio padre, mia sorella - but it comes back in the plural (i miei fratelli) and with loro (il loro figlio).
Examples
- Mio padre si chiama Marco.
- My father is called Marco.
- I miei genitori abitano a Roma.
- My parents live in Rome.
- Come si chiama tua sorella?
- What is your sister called?
The mistake to avoid
"Il mio padre" is wrong, but "il mio amico" is right: a friend is not family.
Where this fits in
Family & people, Italian A1: Talk about your family, say what people are like and how old they are, and introduce your friends.