del
of the
È una combinazione della preposizione 'di' e dell'articolo 'il', usata per indicare possesso, provenienza o parte di un tutto.
Definition & meaning
del is an Italian contracted preposition, formed from di + il. Its meaning depends on the context:
-
“of the” / “from the” / “about the”
It expresses possession, origin, belonging, or a relationship.- il libro del professore — “the professor’s book” / “the book of the professor”
- il rumore del mare — “the sound of the sea”
- parlare del film — “to talk about the film”
-
“some” or “any”
In this use, del is a partitive article, meaning an unspecified quantity of a masculine singular noun.- Vorrei del pane — “I would like some bread.”
- C’è del vino sul tavolo — “There is some wine on the table.”
The plural and feminine forms are dei, degli, and della, depending on the noun.
Grammar & Word origin
del = di + il
- di is a preposition meaning “of,” “from,” or “about.”
- il is the masculine singular definite article, meaning “the.”
Del is used before masculine singular nouns that normally take il, such as:
- del libro — “of the book” / “some book”
- del pane — “of the bread” / “some bread”
It is not used before nouns that take lo or l’. In those cases, the corresponding forms are dello and dell’ .
Synonyms & antonyms
There is no exact synonym or antonym for del, because it is a grammatical contraction rather than a word with an independent lexical meaning.
Depending on context, it can be replaced by:
- di + another article or noun, when expressing possession or relation.
- un po’ di , meaning “a little/some,” which emphasizes a small or unspecified quantity.
- alcuni or qualche , meaning “some” or “a few,” generally used with plural or singular nouns in different grammatical constructions.
Common phrases & collocations
- del tutto — completely, entirely
- del resto — besides, moreover, after all
- del genere — of this kind, of this sort
- a causa del — because of the
- parlare del — to talk about the
- avere bisogno del — to need the
- un bicchiere del vino — a glass of the wine
- un bicchiere di vino — a glass of wine; here di is used without an article because the quantity is indefinite
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Examples
Vedo il colore del cielo al mattino.preposition
I see the color of the sky in the morning.
Abbiamo sentito la voce del maestro fuori dalla classe.preposition
We heard the voice of the teacher outside the classroom.
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