I. The Partitive: Il partitivo
The partitive in English is some, any, a few. In Italian, the meaning of these words can be conveyed in the following ways.
- You can combine the preposition di with a definite article to mean some (del, dello, della, dell’, dei, degli, delle).
Ho mangiato della pizza. I ate some pizza. Ci sono degli studenti. There are some students. Conosco delle ragazze. I know some girls. Hai dell’acqua? Do you have some water? - Some or a few can also be expressed with the word qualche plus a singular noun.
Paola invita qualche amico.
Paola is inviting some friends.
C’è qualche problema.
There are some problems.
Ho ancora qualche giorno.
I still have a few days. - Another way to express some or a few is to use the word alcuni / alcune, plus a plural noun.