{"id":15801,"date":"2018-03-19T13:12:38","date_gmt":"2018-03-19T12:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=15801"},"modified":"2018-03-19T18:18:56","modified_gmt":"2018-03-19T17:18:56","slug":"using-the-indefinite-adjective-del","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/using-the-indefinite-adjective-del\/","title":{"rendered":"Using The Indefinite Adjective Del"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month I published an article called Qualche Problema<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a> in which we looked at the correct usage of the indefinite adjective qualche<\/strong>. Today we’re going to look at another way of saying some<\/em>, any<\/em>, or a bit of<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

To express an indefinite quantity we commonly use the preposition di <\/strong>(of) combined with the definite articles il, lo, la, l’, i, gli, le<\/strong>, (the) to create the indefinite adjectives\u00a0del, dello, della, dell’, dei, degli, delle<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Si \u00e8 appena sciolta la neve e ci sono gi\u00e0 dei crochi!<\/strong> The snow has just melted and there are already some crocuses! Photo by Geoff
<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Here’s how they are constructed:
\ndi + il = del<\/strong> (masculine singular)
\ndi + lo = dello<\/strong> (masculine singular before nouns beginning with x<\/strong>, z<\/strong>,\u00a0 gn<\/strong>, ps<\/strong>, and s<\/strong> followed by another consonant)
\ndi + la = della<\/strong> (feminine singular)
\ndi + l’ = dell’<\/strong> (masculine or feminine singular before a noun beginning with a vowel)
\ndi + i = dei<\/strong> (masculine plural)
\ndi + gli = degli<\/strong> (masculine plural before nouns beginning with a vowel, x<\/strong>, z<\/strong>,\u00a0 gn<\/strong>, ps<\/strong>, and s<\/strong> followed by another consonant)
\ndi + le = delle<\/strong> (feminine plural)<\/p>\n

Now let’s take each of these in turn and look at some practical examples of how we use them:<\/p>\n

di + il = del<\/strong><\/span> (masculine singular)
\nc’\u00e8 del<\/span> pane?<\/strong> = is there any<\/span> bread?
\nci serve del<\/span> cemento<\/strong> = we need some<\/span> cement
\nci vorr\u00e0 del<\/span> tempo<\/strong> = it will take some <\/span>time<\/p>\n

di + lo = dello<\/strong><\/span> (masculine singular before nouns beginning with x<\/strong>, z<\/strong>,\u00a0 gn<\/strong>, ps<\/strong>, and s<\/strong> followed by another consonant)
\nc’\u00e8 dello<\/span> zucchero?<\/strong> = is there any<\/span> sugar?
\nci serve dello<\/span> stucco<\/strong> = we need some<\/span> plaster<\/p>\n

di + la = della<\/strong><\/span> (feminine singular)
\nc’\u00e8 della<\/span> birra?<\/strong> = is there any<\/span> beer?
\nci serve della<\/span> legna per la stufa<\/strong> = we need some<\/span> wood for the stove
\nvolevo della<\/span> stoffa pi\u00f9 fina<\/strong> = I wanted some<\/span> thinner fabric<\/p>\n

di + l’ = dell’<\/strong> <\/span>(masculine or feminine singular before a noun beginning with a vowel)
\nc’\u00e8 dell’<\/span>aceto?<\/strong> = is there any<\/span> vinegar?
\nti serve dell’<\/span>aiuto?<\/strong> = do you need some<\/span> help?
\ndevi aggiungere dell’<\/span>acqua<\/strong> = you need to add a bit of <\/span>water<\/p>\n

di + i = dei<\/strong><\/span> (masculine plural)
\nci sono dei<\/span> chiodi?<\/strong> = are there any<\/span> nails?
\nhai visto dei<\/span> bei film recentemente?<\/strong> = have you seen any<\/span> good films recently?
\nho fatto dei<\/span> biscotti<\/strong> = I’ve made some<\/span> biscuits<\/p>\n

di + gli = degli<\/strong><\/span> (masculine plural before nouns beginning with\u00a0a vowel, x<\/strong>, z<\/strong>,\u00a0 gn<\/strong>, ps<\/strong>, and s<\/strong> followed by another consonant)
\nti serviranno degli<\/span> scarponi robusti<\/strong> = you’ll need some<\/span> strong hiking boots
\ndegli<\/span> alberi sono caduti a causa del forte vento<\/strong> = a few<\/span> trees have fallen because of the strong wind<\/p>\n

di + le = delle<\/strong><\/span> (feminine plural)
\nho comprato delle<\/span> arance<\/strong> = I’ve bought some<\/span> oranges
\nc’erano delle<\/span> api alla fontana<\/strong> = there were some<\/span> bees at the fountain
\nci sono delle<\/span> belle ragazze qui stasera!<\/strong> = there are some<\/span> pretty girls here this evening!<\/p>\n

Note that the singular forms del, dello, della, dell’<\/strong> are only used with ‘uncountable nouns’ (also known as ‘mass nouns’) such as zucchero<\/strong> (sugar), terra <\/strong>(earth), pioggia <\/strong>(rain), etc, and can be substituted with the expression un po’ di <\/strong>(literally: a bit of), e.g.:<\/p>\n

vuoi del<\/span> <\/strong>or<\/em> un po’ di<\/span> caff\u00e8? = <\/strong>would you like some\/a bit of<\/span> coffee?
\nposso avere dello<\/span> <\/strong>or<\/em> un po’ di<\/span> zucchero? = <\/strong>can I have some\/a bit of <\/span>sugar?
\nmi serve della<\/span> <\/strong>or<\/em> un po’ di<\/span> colla = <\/strong>I need some\/a bit of<\/span> glue
\nvolevi dell’ <\/span><\/strong>or<\/em> un po’ di <\/span>acqua?<\/strong> = did you want any\/a bit of<\/span> water?<\/p>\n

An important note about qualche<\/strong> or del<\/strong>?<\/span><\/p>\n

As both qualche<\/strong> and del<\/strong>, dello, della<\/strong> etc. can mean some<\/em>, or any<\/em>, it may seem that they are interchangeable. This is not always the case however.
\nFor example, we can say \u00e8 caduto qualche albero<\/strong> (some trees have fallen) or sono caduti degli alberi<\/strong> (some trees have fallen). But if we wanted to say\u00a0I’ve made some biscuits<\/em> we’d use ho fatto dei biscotti<\/strong> and not<\/span> ho fatto qualche biscotto<\/strong>. This is something that is difficult to grasp unless you’re hearing and using the language every day, but it can be useful to think of qualche <\/strong>as meaning a small quantity of <\/em>or a few<\/em> and then look at how you’d express yourself in English. Hence you’d probably say I’ve made some<\/span> biscuits<\/em> (ho fatto dei biscotti<\/strong>) rather than I’ve made a small quantity of<\/span> biscuits<\/em> (unless you really had only made 4 or 5!). You could, however, say vuoi portare qualche biscotto a casa?<\/strong> (would you like to take a few biscuits home?).<\/p>\n

As usual, if there is anything that you don’t understand please leave a comment.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Last month I published an article called Qualche Problema in which we looked at the correct usage of the indefinite adjective qualche. Today we’re going to look at another way of saying some, any, or a bit of. To express an indefinite quantity we commonly use the preposition di (of) combined with the definite articles…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":15932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[386000],"class_list":["post-15801","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-italian-indefinite-adjectives"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t