The partitive
Constructed from di and the words Alcuni, qualche and un po' di
By the very nature of it's name, a partitive represents a part of a whole. In English we usually convey this thought with words like some or any. It is an non quantitative expression. We create a partitive by using the contractions created by combining the word di and the definite article require by the whole that we want to express a part of. These are the same contractions we made when we studied prepositions as shown below;|
di |
IL del |
LO / L' dello / dell' |
LA/L' della / dell' |
I dei |
GLI degli |
LE delle |
Here are a few examples of these in use;
|
Vorrei del vino. Ho comprato dei fiori. Posso avere dell'acqua? Ho visto degli amici. Hai delle sorelle? |
(di + il) (di + i) (di + l') (di + gli) (di + le) |
I'd like some wine. I bought some flowers. Can I have some water? I saw some friends. Do you have any sisters? |
There are a few other ways to create a non quantitative expression. We can do this by using the words qualche, alcune and un po' di. Let's start with un po' di. You can use this when the partitive (some) means a little bit. Examples;
|
Vorrei del vino. Vorrei un po' di vino.. Posso avere dell'acqua? Posso avere un po' d'acqua? |
I'd like some wine. I'd like a little bit of wine. Can I have some water? Can I have a little bit of water? |
Alcune and Qualche can be used when some means a few. Qualche is invariable and is only followed by a singular noun. Alcune or Alcuni is always followed by a plural noun.
|
Ho comprato dei fiori. Ho comprato alcuni fiori. Ho comprato qualche fiore. Ho visto degli amici. Ho visto alcuni amici. Ho visto qualche amico. |
I bought a few flowers. I bought a few flowers. I bought a few flowers. I saw a few friends. I saw a few friends. I saw a few friends. |
In addition, qualche is also used in conjunction with other word much in the same way we use the word some with other words. Here are a few examples;
|
Qualcuno Qualcosa Qualche volta |
Someone Something Some times |
| You can learn more about the partitive in Italian on pages 18 - 19 of the book "English Grammar for Students of Italian" by Sergio Adorni and Karen Primorac, copyright 1995. If you do not own this book, don't worry, it is not mandatory that you do. However, it can be very useful in a lot of ways and if you would like to know more about this book and where to buy it, click on the graphic link to the right or simply go to our online bookstore. | You can learn more about the partitive in Italian on pages 68 - 70 (page #'s may vary as I have an older edition) of "Ciao", copyright 1986. If you do not own this book, don't worry, it is not mandatory that you do. However, it can be very useful in a lot of ways and if you would like to know more about this book and where to buy it, click on the graphic link to the right or simply go to our online bookstore. | You can learn more about the partitive in Italian on pages 65, 66 & 137 of "Italian Pronouns and Prepositions" by Daniela Bobetti, copyright 1976. If you do not own this book, don't worry, it is not mandatory that you do. However, it can be very useful in a lot of ways and if you would like to know more about this book and where to buy it, click on the graphic link to the right or simply go to our online bookstore. |
