L'articolo partitivo (partitive article) is used to indicate imprecise or approximate quantities. It appears before singular nouns (del miele, del caffè, del burro) as well as before plural nouns of an unspecified amount (dei libri, delle ragazze, degli studenti). The partitive is expressed by the Italian preposition di (of, from) combined with the definite article. For example:
Ho delle cravatte blu. (I have a few blue ties.)
Prende del caffè. (She is drinking some coffee.)
Esco con dei compagni. (I go out with some friends.)
Manca del burro. (He needs some butter.)
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ITALIAN PARTITIVE ARTICLES | ||
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SINGULAR |
PLURAL |
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feminine |
delle |
delle |
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feminine (before a vowel) |
dell' |
delle |
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masculine |
del |
dei |
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masculine (before a vowel) |
dell' |
degli |
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masculine (before the letters z, x +consonant, and gn) |
dello |
degli |