The partitive

Constructed from di and the words Alcuni, qualche and un po' di

By the very nature of it's name, a partitive represents a part of a whole. In English we usually convey this thought with words like some or any. It is an non quantitative expression. We create a partitive by using the contractions created by combining the word di and the definite article require by the whole that we want to express a part of. These are the same contractions we made when we studied prepositions as shown below;

di

IL del

LO / L' dello / dell'

LA/L' della / dell'

I dei

GLI degli

LE delle

Here are a few examples of these in use;

Vorrei del pane. Ho comprato dei fiori. Posso avere dell'acqua? Ho visto degli amici. Hai delle sorelle?

(di + il) (di + i) (di + l') (di + gli) (di + le)

I'd like some bread. I bought some flowers. Can I have some water? I saw some friends. Do you have any sisters?

There are a few other ways to create a non quantitative expression. We can do this by using the words qualche, alcune and un po' di. Let's start with un po' di. You can use this when the partitive (some) means a little bit. Examples;

Vorrei del pane. Vorrei un po' di pane.. Posso avere dell'acqua? Posso avere un po' d'acqua?

I'd like some wine. I'd like a little bit of wine. Can I have some water? Can I have a little bit of water?

Alcune and Qualche can be used when some means a few. Qualche is invariable and is only followed by a singular noun. Alcune or Alcuni is always followed by a plural noun.

Ho comprato dei fiori. Ho comprato alcuni fiori. Ho comprato qualche fiore. Ho visto degli amici. Ho visto alcuni amici. Ho visto qualche amico.

I bought a few flowers. I bought a few flowers. I bought a few flowers. I saw a few friends. I saw a few friends. I saw a few friends.

In addition, qualche is also used in conjunction with other word much in the same way we use the word some with other words. Here are a few examples;

Qualcuno Qualcosa Qualche volta