The preposition di is one of the most common prepositions in the Italian language. Its basic definition, or rather, translation, is "of."
The title of a Yabla video about the famous Olivetti typewriter is La forza di un sogno. Here we can translate directly: "The strength of a dream."
One way di is used is to show the purpose of something. In this case, we might have two nouns separated by di (of) After di, we don't need the article of the noun, when we are referring to purpose, although there may be exceptions to this.
A scuola di musica is the title of a series of videos about what the musical notes are called in Italian. If you like to play music, this might interest you.
In English, we can say "school of music" or we can say "music school." They mean the same thing. In Italian, we don't have the choice, except in some certain circumstances we won't worry about just now.
Just as we have la scuola di musica, where di means "of," we can guess the meaning of other, similar series of words connected by di.
un negozio di vino - wine shop
un museo di arte moderna - modern art museum or, museum of modern art
una casa di caccia - hunting lodge
uno studio di registrazione - recording studioun
un professore di storia - history professor
In English, we can often use a noun as an adjective as in "wine shop," but in Italian we start with "shop" (negozio) and add di plus the kind of shop it is, also a noun.
To show possession in English, we sometimes use the apostrophe, which we don't use in Italian. To translate in a parallel way, we have to turn the phrase around in English and imagine using "of," even though to use it sounds kind of awkward.
For example, one Yabla video is called Battesimo di Philip. In English, we could say, "Philip's baptism," but in Italian this form doesn't exist. We need di. In the caption itself, we've used the same formula for the English translation. It could have been: "my son Philip's baptism."
La... il battesimo di mio figlio Philip.
The... the baptism of my son Philip.
Caption 17, Adriano Battesimo di Philip - Part 1
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One the first things we learn in a new language is to say where we're from, because inevitabilmente (inevitably), we'll be asked that.
The basic question is: di dove sei (where are you from)? For this we use the verb essere (to be).
"Di dove sei" è una domanda che io faccio per chiedere a una persona dov'è nata, l'origine.
Where are you from is a question I ask to ask a person where he was born, his origins.
Captions 9-10, Corso di italiano con Daniela Preposizioni in e a
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Note that di is at the beginning of the question. For the answer, we start with the verb (with the personal pronoun incorporated into it). Di by itself works for towns and cities. States, regions, and countries can be more complicated but we won't worry about that right now.
Sono di New York (I'm from New York).
Di can mean "at" when we're talking about night and day, morning, afternoon, or evening:
eh... cucinando di notte, perché sennò di giorno fa caldo,
uh... cooking at night because otherwise it's too hot during the day,
Caption 68, Cucinare con le spezie di Franco Calafatti Introduzione
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Racconta la storia di un burattino di legno
It tells the story of a wooden puppet
Caption 31, Adriano Pizzeria Pinocchio - Part 1
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We could say, "Pinocchio is a story about a wooden puppet."
There are other ways in which we use di, too many to list here. But we will close with a few common ways to say, "You're welcome" with di.
If you want to minimize what you did for someone, you can say:
Di niente (it was nothing).
Di nulla (it was nothing).
Non c'è di che (there's nothing [to thank me] for).
The preposition di (of) is one of the most common simple prepositions. It's used to show possession, but also means, origin, manner, quantity. Take a look at the WordReference entry to get an idea.
The simple preposition di can be combined with an article to form what is called una preposizione articolata. In doing this, it is transformed a bit, so this is just something we need to learn. Marika has a video series about the prepositions, and begins with the common preposition di. In this lesson we will set out to put things in a visual context with a list of how di can combine with definite articles, and we'll give you some examples from Yabla videos, so you can hear them in context.
Here is how we combine the preposition di with the various definite articles (that all mean "the"): The main thing to notice is that the i in di is transformed in e.
di + il = del
di + lo = dello
di + l’ = dell’
di + la = della
di + i = dei
di + gli = degli
di + le = delle
Let's look at each combination in context:
It will usually precede a masculine noun or the adjective that describes it.
In tutte le città del mondo ci sono ristoranti italiani.
In all the cities of the world, there are Italian restaurants.
Caption 8, Adriano Pizzeria Pinocchio - Part 1
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In the following example, note that before the noun there is an adjective, famoso (famous) which also agrees with the masculine noun.
Pinocchio è il protagonista del famoso romanzo dell'autore Collodi:
Pinocchio is the main character of the famous novel by the author Collodi:
Caption 29, Adriano Pizzeria Pinocchio - Part 1
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Note that there is another example of dello in the title of the episode. Translated it would be: The shark's gold.
Chi ha aggiustato la porta dello spogliatoio?
Who fixed the door of the locker room?
Caption 30, La Ladra Ep. 3 - L'oro dello squalo - Part 13
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In the following example, even though we say il colore, not lo colore, we do use di plus the definite article lo and it becomes dello. This is because before the noun, we have the adjective stesso which begins with an s + the consonant t. So we need the definite article lo. Like when we say: È lo stesso (It's all the same). That's something to remember. Later in this lesson, we will look at a similar construction with a feminine noun.
E una bella borsa dello stesso colore.
And a nice handbag of the same color.
Caption 37, Corso di italiano con Daniela I colori - Part 3
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Le pulizie della casa, dell'appartamento si chiamano anche "faccende domestiche" oppure "pulizie casalinghe".
The cleaning of the house, of the apartment, is also called "housework" or "household cleaning."
Captions 32-33, Marika spiega Le pulizie di primavera - Part 1
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Sometimes this same construction turns out to be feminine! It's a truncated version of della, which we'll look at next.This can be a headache for learners:
Io mi occupo della contabilità dell'azienda.
I take care of the accounts of the business.
Caption 17, Il Commissario Manara S1EP11 - Beato tra le donne - Part 3
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La grande tragedia della guerra lascia memorie che non si cancellano.
The great tragedy of the war leaves memories that don't get erased.
Caption 43, L'arte della cucina Terre d'Acqua - Part 5
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Now let's move on to di plus a plural definite article.
Da quando in qua un uomo si deve occupare dei neonati?
Since when should a man have to take care of [the] newborns?
Caption 16, Adriano Olivetti La forza di un sogno Ep.2 - Part 12
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Note that Italian uses the definite article, where in English, none is necessary. This is common and takes some effort in getting used to it.
In the next example, we have the combined preposition followed by the possessive pronoun miei (the plural masculine form of mio). Here too, the article is there (attached to di = dei ).
È una ricetta dei miei nonni che coltivavano le arance di Sicilia.
It's a recipe from my grandparents, who cultivated Sicilian oranges.
Caption 12, Adriano L'arancello di Marina
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Degli is hard to pronounce for lots of folks. Here, too, the definite article is included, while English leaves it out.
Pensate che il novanta percento degli italiani beve caffè quotidianamente.
Just think that ninety percent of Italians drink coffee on a daily basis.
Caption 7, Adriano Il caffè
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Sarà la forma delle note a stabilire qual è la durata dei suoni,
It's the shape of the notes that determines the duration of the sounds,
Caption 37, A scuola di musica con Alessio - Part 3
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If you look at the transcript of just about any video, you will be able to pick out several examples of these preposizioni articolate. Look for common phrases and start repeating them, getting them into your repertoire.
For other preposizioni articolate, check out:
Combining the preposition a with a definite article
Combining the preposition in with a definite article
Meanwhile, if you have any questions or doubts, write to us at newsletter@yabla.com
A note about Adriano and his Dublin videos. You may notice that in a recent installment, he uses the noun locali to mean “the locals.” It’s incorrect.
Questa scuola di cucina serve appunto per far conoscere a locali [sic: persone del posto] e a stranieri
This school serves, in fact, to acquaint locals and foreigners with
le tecniche, i segreti della cucina italiana.
the techniques, the secrets of Italian cooking.
Captions 22-23, Adriano - Pizzeria Pinocchio
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In Italian, un locale is a place. Adriano is using a “false friend” that made its way into his brain without his even realizing it, perhaps. This can happen very easily when we spend time in a foreign country. We make a huge effort to learn the language of the place, we even start thinking in that language, and then all of a sudden we have to speak our native language there in the foreign country. It’s easy to get a little mixed up sometimes. Living in a foreign country encourages us to become somewhat multilingual, using the word that seems the most appropriate at the moment, in whichever language. Since there is no good, single Italian word for “the locals,” Adriano just grabbed the first word that sounded right, treating it as an Italian word, making the plural with an i. If you speak English, you understand it. Just remember: it’s not correct Italian.
Adriano provides us with a useful Italian word: legare (to tie). In talking about his favorite restaurant in Dublin, he uses the verb form, legare (to tie):
Sono molti i fattori che mi legano a questo ristorante.
There are many factors that tie me to this restaurant.
Caption 24, Adriano - Pizzeria Pinocchio
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He’s speaking metaphorically, just as in the following example, where he uses the adjective/past participle legato.
Quando ero piccolo, ero molto legato alla figura di Pinocchio.
When I was little, I was very tied to the figure of Pinocchio.
Caption 38, Adriano - Pizzeria Pinocchio
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In Italian, the verb legare can imply feeling connected to something or someone as in the above examples, or it can be about simply tying or fastening something.
Ora, io non l'ho legato,
Now, I haven't fastened him in,
ma naturalmente va sempre legato.
but naturally he should always be fastened.
Caption 23, Anna presenta - Attrezzature per un neonato
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We’re talking about a kind of seat belt here.
And in the following example, we’re talking about a leash for a dog and tying an animal to a secure post.
Va be', sì, insomma, l'avevo legato qui fuori a un vaso,
OK, yes, in other words, I'd tied him to a flower pot out here,
ma evidentemente...
but evidently...
Caption 35, La Ladra - Ep. 1 - Le cose cambiano
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Things can be tied in a non-physical way, by association.
Comunque qualcosa legato all'incendio, no?
In any case, something tied to the fire, right?
Caption 48, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP11 - Beato tra le donne
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There's more to say about legare so stay tuned.
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