{"id":449,"date":"2010-08-04T12:51:08","date_gmt":"2010-08-04T12:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=449"},"modified":"2015-12-15T10:35:14","modified_gmt":"2015-12-15T09:35:14","slug":"qualche-alcuni-o-dei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/qualche-alcuni-o-dei\/","title":{"rendered":"Qualche, alcuni o dei?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3b3b3b\">When talking about unspecified quantities we can use several forms. The most common indefinite adjective is <strong>qualche<\/strong>, which means &#8216;some&#8217;, &#8216;any&#8217;, or &#8216;a few&#8217;. The problem with <strong>qualche<\/strong> is that it is <u>invariable<\/u>, and always <u>singular<\/u>, but expresses the idea of plurality. Let&#8217;s look at the way we use it:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2010\/08\/ALBERO-001.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10594\" aria-label=\"ALBERO 001\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-10594\"  alt=\"ALBERO\" width=\"540\" height=\"405\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2010\/08\/ALBERO-001.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2010\/08\/ALBERO-001.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2010\/08\/ALBERO-001-350x263.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong>Ho comprato <u>qualche pianta<\/u> al mercato<br \/>\n<\/strong>I bought <u>some <\/u><u>plants<\/u> on the market<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong><u>Qualche albero \u00e8 caduto<\/u> a causa del forte vento<br \/>\n<\/strong><u>Some trees have fallen<\/u> because of the strong wind<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong><u>Qualche giorno<\/u> fa siamo andati al mare<br \/>\n<\/strong><u>A few days<\/u> ago we went to the sea<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong>Conosci <u>qualche buon ristorante<\/u> qui vicino?<br \/>\n<\/strong>Do you know <u>any good restaurants<\/u> near here?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3b3b3b\">As you can see from the examples above, <strong>qualche<\/strong> is always followed by a singular noun, and, where appropriate, a singular verb.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3b3b3b\">Another common way to express an unspecified quantity is the indefinite adjective <strong>alcuni \/ alcune<\/strong>, which is only used in the plural form, and has both the masculine (<strong>alcuni<\/strong>) and the feminine (<strong>alcune<\/strong>) forms. Here are some examples of how to use them:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong>Ho comprato <u>alcune piante<\/u> al mercato<br \/>\n<\/strong>I bought <u>some plants<\/u> on the market<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong><u>Alcuni alberi sono caduti <\/u><strong>a causa del<\/strong> forte vento<br \/>\n<\/strong><u>Some trees have fallen<\/u> because of the strong wind<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong>Alcuni giorni fa siamo andati al mare<br \/>\n<\/strong><u>A few days<\/u> ago we went to the sea<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong><u>Alcune persone preferiscono<\/u> il mare alla montagna<br \/>\n<\/strong><u>Some people prefer<\/u> the sea to the mountain<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2010\/08\/Natale-2011-092.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10595\" aria-label=\"Natale 2011 092\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-10595\"  alt=\"Serena - golfo della spezia\" width=\"540\" height=\"405\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2010\/08\/Natale-2011-092.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2010\/08\/Natale-2011-092.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2010\/08\/Natale-2011-092-350x263.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3b3b3b\">In this case <strong>alcuni \/ alcune<\/strong> are followed by a plural noun, and, where appropriate, a plural verb.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3b3b3b\">N.B. <strong>alcun \/ alcuno \/ alcuna<\/strong> (which are the singular forms of <strong>alcuni \/ alcune<\/strong>) are <u>only<\/u> used in negative sentences, e.g. <strong><u>Non<\/u> conosco <u>alcun<\/u> buon ristorante qui vicino<\/strong> (I <u>don&#8217;t <\/u>know <u>any<\/u> good restaurants near here), or <strong><u>non<\/u> ho comprato <u>alcuna<\/u> pianta al mercato <\/strong>(I <u>didn&#8217;t<\/u> buy <u>any<\/u> plants on the market). It should be noted however, that in colloquial Italian <strong>nessun \/ nessuno \/ nessuna <\/strong>(lit. nobody or nothing) is used far more commonly, e.g. <strong>Non conosco nessun buon ristorante qui vicino<\/strong> (I don&#8217;t know any good restaurants near here).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3b3b3b\">Finally, to express an indefinite quantity we commonly use the partitive adjective which is formed by combining the preposition <strong>di <\/strong>with the definite articles <strong>il, lo, la, l&#8217;, i, gli, le<\/strong>, hence: <strong>del, dello, della, dell&#8217;, dei, degli, delle<\/strong>. Let&#8217;s look at some examples:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong>Ho comprato <u>delle piante<\/u> al mercato<br \/>\n<\/strong>I bought <u>some plants<\/u> on the market<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong><u>Degli alberi sono caduti<\/u> a causa del forte vento<br \/>\n<\/strong><u>Some trees have fallen<\/u> because of the strong wind<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong>Conosci <u>dei buoni ristoranti<\/u> qui vicino?<br \/>\n<\/strong>Do you know <u>any good restaurants<\/u> near here?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3b3b3b\">Note that the singular form <strong>del, dello, della, dell&#8217;<\/strong> is either used with uncountable nouns (i.e. nouns that are not normally pluralized) such as <strong>zucchero<\/strong> (sugar), <strong>acqua<\/strong> (water), <strong>caff\u00e8 <\/strong>(coffee), etc, or with the meaning of <strong>un po&#8217; di <\/strong>(a bit of):<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong>Vuoi del caff\u00e8?<br \/>\n<\/strong>Would you like some coffee?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong>Posso avere dello zucchero?<br \/>\n<\/strong>May I have some sugar<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff\"><strong>Devo comprare del formaggio<br \/>\n<\/strong>I must buy a bit of cheese<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #3b3b3b\">N.B. When asking questions we either use <strong>qualche<\/strong> or <strong>del, dei<\/strong>, etc., and <u>not<\/u> <strong>alcuni \/ e<\/strong>, e.g.: <strong>Conosci qualche buon ristorante? <\/strong>or <strong>Conosci dei buoni ristoranti? <\/strong>(Do you know any good restaurants?)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"263\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2010\/08\/Natale-2011-092-350x263.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image tmp-hide-img\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2010\/08\/Natale-2011-092-350x263.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2010\/08\/Natale-2011-092.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>When talking about unspecified quantities we can use several forms. The most common indefinite adjective is qualche, which means &#8216;some&#8217;, &#8216;any&#8217;, or &#8216;a few&#8217;. The problem with qualche is that it is invariable, and always singular, but expresses the idea of plurality. Let&#8217;s look at the way we use it: Ho comprato qualche pianta al&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/qualche-alcuni-o-dei\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":10595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[10450],"class_list":["post-449","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-qualche-alcuni-dei"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10596,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449\/revisions\/10596"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}