In Italian, partitive articles (articoli partitivi) are used to talk about an unspecified quantity of something or an unspecified number of people or things. In English, they often correspond to some or any, but they are not always translated. For example, del pane means some bread, but in a sentence such as Compro del pane, English can simply say I'm buying bread. When you say dei libri, you mean some books, without saying exactly how many. Partitive articles are formed by combining the preposition di with a definite article. The resulting forms are del, dello, della, dell', dei, degli, and delle.
Vorrei del pane. — I would like some bread.
Compro delle mele. — I'm buying some apples.
Hai dei libri? — Do you have any books?
Singular Partitive Articles
Singular partitive articles are mainly used with things we do not usually count one by one, such as bread, water, or cheese. They indicate an unspecified amount rather than one complete item. Their forms follow the same pattern as the definite articles: del corresponds to il, dello to lo, della to la, and dell' to l'. For example, pane takes del because we say il pane, while acqua takes dell' because we say l'acqua.
Compro del formaggio. — I'm buying some cheese.
Vorrei dello zucchero. — I would like some sugar.
Bevo dell'acqua. — I'm drinking some water.
Compro della frutta. — I'm buying some fruit.
Plural Partitive Articles
Plural partitive articles are used with countable nouns, such as books, students, or apples, when we want to talk about several people or things without specifying their exact number. In this sense, they often work like the plural of the indefinite articles un, uno, and una, which have no plural forms of their own. The masculine form dei corresponds to the definite article i, degli corresponds to gli, and the feminine form delle corresponds to le. The choice therefore follows the same pattern as the definite articles.
Ho comprato dei libri. — I bought some books.
Ci sono degli studenti in classe. — There are some students in the classroom.
Ho delle amiche italiane. — I have some Italian friends.
Summary of Italian Partitive Articles
| Gender | Beginning of the noun | Definite article | Partitive article | Example |
| Masculine singular | Most consonants | il | del | del pane |
| Masculine singular | s + consonant, z | lo | dello | dello zucchero |
| Masculine singular | Vowel | l' | dell' | dell'olio |
| Feminine singular | Consonant | la | della | della frutta |
| Feminine singular | Vowel | l' | dell' | dell'acqua |
| Masculine plural | Most consonants | i | dei | dei libri |
| Masculine plural | Vowels, s + consonant, z | gli | degli | degli amici |
| Feminine plural | All beginnings | le | delle | delle mele |