The Partitive Article — Il Partitivo

This is the grammatical name for the English word "some" or "any".

There are several ways that this can be translated into Italian but you must master the first method so that you can use the two irregular adjectives bello and quello which follow the same pattern.

1 The commonest word for "some" is del. This word is a combination of the word di and the various forms of the definite article as shown in the table below. If you're not sure about all the various forms of the definite article revise it again here.

 
masc. sing.
fem. sing.
masc. plur.
fem. plur.
Definite Article   il   lo   l'   la   l'   i   gli     le
Partitive Article  del  dello  dell'  della  dell'  dei  degli    delle

Master this word before you move on. The form you need is the one which corresponds to the definite article which would be used with the noun: for example:
1. Suppose you want to say "some wine"; 'the' wine is il vino, so 'some' wine is del vino.
2. Suppose you want to say "some friends" ; 'the' friends is gli amici, so 'some' friends is degli amici.

You will see that to handle this word correctly you must understand the definite article. Revise it again if you have to but it won't get any easier if you pretend that it will go away if you ignore it.

Exercise 1 Here is a shopping list; translate the items into Italian. (Use a dictionary for the nouns)

  1. some wine
  2. some bread
  3. some cheese
  4. some apples
  5. some fruit
  6. some biscuits
  7. some mineral water
  8. some oil
  9. some vinegar
  10. some garlic
  11. some spaghetti (N.B. this word is masc. plur.)
  12. some lasagne (N.B. this word is fem. plur.)
  13. some sugar
  14. some onions
  15. some courgettes (courgette = zucchino)

To check your answers click here.

Exercise 2 Use a dictionary to help you translate these sentence into Italian, using the correct part of del.

N.B. "there is" = c'è ; "there are" = ci sono.

  1. Is there any bread?
  2. Are there any rolls?
  3. Is there any butter?
  4. Is there any oil?
  5. There are some nice strawberries in the garden (nel giardino)
  6. There is some wine downstairs.
  7. There are some houses
  8. Are there any shops?
  9. Is there any fresh milk?
  10. There are some mistakes.

To check your answers click here.

Master the word del before you go any further. The adjectives bello and quello follow the same pattern; learn it thoroughly.

Here are the other ways of saying "some" : Look carefully at the conditions under which they can be used.

2 alcuni ; alcune [only used with a plural noun; it agrees with its noun]

e.g. I invited some friends = Ho invitato alcuni amici
     I spent a few hours in Rome = Ho passato alcune ore a Roma

3 qualche [invariable; followed by a singular noun in Italian, but its meaning is plural]

This is a good one to use in higher writing.

e.g.   I invited some friends = Ho invitato qualche amico
      I spent a few hours in Rome = Ho passato qualche ora a Roma.
      I have been leaninng Italian for a few weeks = Imparo l'italiano da qualche settimana.
      I would like to spend some days in Rome = Vorrei passare qualche giorno a Roma.

4 un po' di = a little; a bit of ; some [invariable]

e.g.  I need a bit of peace = Ho bisogno di un po' di pace.
     I take a little milk in my coffee = prendo un po' di latte nel caffe.

5 NOT USED IN A NEGATIVE SENTENCE IN ITALIAN:

e.g.  I don't have any problems = Non ho problemi
     There's no more milk = Non c è più latte.

6 nessun ; nessuno ; nessuna ; nessun' = not any [double negative! sing.only]

e.g.  I didn't prepare any special dishes = Non ho preparato nessun piatto speciale.
     I don't have any idea = Non ho nessun'idea.

 

Exercise 3 Here are some sentences in English which have been partially translated into Italian. You have to supply the missing words, but be careful, not all the gaps require a word — look at 5 above!

  1. I bought some pasta = Ho comprato ______ pasta.
  2. Some friends invited me to a party. = ___________ amici mi hanno invitato a una festa.
  3. I met some nice people = Ho conosciuto ___________ persone simpatiche.
  4. There were some long tables = C'erano ________ lunghi tavoli.
  5. On the tables there were some bottles of beer = Sui tavoli c'era _________ bottiglia di birra.
  6. There were also a few plates of cheese. = C'erano anche ________ piatti di formaggio.
  7. There wasn't any more sparkling wine nor any brandy. = Non c'era più _______ spumante e neanche ______ cognac.
  8. I drank a few glasses of red wine = Ho bevuto _______ bicchiere di vino rosso.
  9. I ate some salad, and some olives = Ho mangiato _______ insalata e ________ olive.
  10. Maria left with some students. = Maria è partita con ________ studenti.

To check your answers click here.

Return to the Grammar Index Page.