- Alcuni/AlcuneAlcuni/e is an indefinite pronoun which means some, a few, or several. Alcuni/e is also an indefinite adjective. As a pronoun, alcuni refers to either people or things mentioned elsewhere in the discourse and is always used in the plural.
Ho visto dei ragazzi, alcuni dei quali mi hanno salutato.
I saw a few guys, some of whom greeted me.
Le camere sono già pulite, ma alcune puzzano ancora.
The rooms are already clean,but some of them still stink.
Giulia dice di conoscere qualche ingegnere che potrebbe aiutarci--e ne conosco alcuni anch’io.
Giulia says she knows some engineers who could help us, and I know a few of them myself.
Le amiche hanno deciso di cenare insieme sabato sera, e alcune volevano andare ad un ristorante giapponese.
The girl friends decided to have dinner together Saturday evening, and some of them wanted to go to a Japanese restaurant. - Altri/Altre Altri/e is an indefinite pronoun which means others. Altri/e is also an indefinite adjective. As a pronoun, altri refers to either people or things mentioned elsewhere in the discourse and is always used in the plural.
Alcuni ragazzi dormono ancora, altri stanno facendo colazione.
Some kids are still asleep, others are having breakfast.
Le altre non mi parlano.
The other [girls] do not speak to me.
NB: Not to be confused with the plural indefinite pronoun we just saw above, altri as an invariable indefinite pronoun means another person or someone else. Although it may be visually misleading, it is important to remember that altri is only used in the singular. The use of altri as a singular pronoun is now exclusively limited to literary language.Tu mi dai torto, ma altri mi crederà.
You think I’m wrong, but another person will believe me.
Non desiderare la donna d’altri.
Do not covet another man’s wife.
Invidioso non è tanto chi soffre che altri abbia qualcosa che lui non ha, quanto chi soffre che altri abbia ciò che lui ha.
He isn’t as envious the man who suffers because someone has something he doesn’t, but the man who suffers because someone has something he also has.
Altri is sometimes used in Italian when, in English, a verb in passive form would be used.Venite a noi parlar, s’altri nol niega! - Dante
Come and speak to us if it is not forbidden!
The expression non essere altri che is used to mean it can’t be anybody but, nobody but, or none other than.Edipo ignorava che l'uomo che aveva ucciso altri non era che il re Laio, il suo vero padre.
Oedipus was unaware that the man he had killed was none other than King Laius, his real father.
L’artista che crea controversia dappertutto, non è altri che Banksy.
The artist that creates controversy everywhere, is none other than Banksy.