In this lesson, we're going to try to clear up something that can be confusing: two combinations of a preposition and article that look alike but have different meanings and functions. You can get by just fine not knowing the names of these grammatical elements, but knowing how they work and when to use them can help you figure out what's going on in an Italian conversation.

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1) Preposizione articolata (articulated preposition)

You might already know that in Italian, instead of saying di il paese (of the town), you say del paese (of the town). In other words, the preposition di (of) gets combined, in a special way, with the definite article il (the). It turns into del (of the). This is called una preposizione articolata (an articled preposition).

As with English, what follows a preposition is usually an indirect object. See our lesson about la preposizione articolata or search the topic preposizioni articolate in the lessons tab. 

Here, the important word in the combination is the preposition. The article just goes with the noun.

Sa, la banda del paese si riunisce qui per provare.

You know, the band of the town gets together here to rehearse.

Caption 22, Il Commissario Manara S1EP3 - Rapsodia in Blu - Part 2

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If the indirect object is feminine, then the preposizione articolata changes according to gender and number, just like a definite article would:

Sì, si chiamava Lorenzo Poggiali, trent'anni, primo clarinetto della banda,

Yes, his name was Lorenzo Poggiali, thirty years old, first clarinet of the band.

Caption 20, Il Commissario Manara S1EP3 - Rapsodia in Blu - Part 2

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If you have been following Yabla videos, or have watched Italian movies and TV shows, you have witnessed this phenomenon hundreds of times. And It works with other prepositions, too, such as in (to, at, in), a (to, in, at), da (from, since, at), and su (on, above).  

2) Articolo partitivo

There is another way we combine a preposition with an article, but here, the meaning is different, as well as the purpose. Perhaps the easiest way to think of this is that it often means "some." In short, it's a way to talk about an imprecise quantity of something.

What's different from the preposizione articolata?

a) For one thing, with the articolo partitivo, the only preposition that is used is di (of). It's combined with a definite article (in all its forms):

del, dell', dello, dei, della, delle, degli.

b) What follows the articolo partitivo is not an indirect object but a direct object. Hai dei soldi per fare la spesa (do you have some money for the grocery shopping)? 

c) If you just use a plain definite article, the sentence still functions grammatically.

d) You can replace the articolo partitivo with un po' di  (a little, a bit of), or alcuni/alcune (some, several).

Here's an example where Adriano uses un po' di. 

Aggiungiamo un po' di parmigiano grattugiato.

We'll add a bit of grated Parmesan.

Caption 46, Adriano Spaghetti pomodoro e aglio

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But he could have used del.  

Aggiungiamo del parmigiano grattugiato.

Here, Adriano does use del, but he could have said un po' di sale. 

Quando l'acqua bollirà, potrò aggiungere del sale.

When the water boils, I can add some salt.

Caption 34, Adriano Spaghetti pomodoro e aglio

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Taglio del pane e poi, e poi forse un bicchiere di vino prima?

I'll cut some bread and then, maybe a glass of wine beforehand?

Caption 6, Escursione Un picnic in campagna - Part 3

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Here's an example in the plural where Andromeda is talking about her dog. 

Mi hanno portato una casetta, mi hanno portato delle coperte...

They brought me a little house, they brought me some blankets...

Caption 36, Andromeda La storia di Ulisse

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So to test the meaning, we can use alcune or alcuni. They both mean "some" but can also mean "a few" or "several." So Andromeda could have said:

Mi hanno portato una casetta, mi hanno portato alcune coperte...

We hope this sheds some light on this sometimes confusing aspect of the Italian language. 

Keep in mind that sometimes, in English, we don't bother to say "some" if it isn't necessary, but as with articles, Italians tend to use a partitive article more often than we would think. To boost your Italian skills, try paying special attention to partitive articles this week as you watch Yabla videos. Feel free to bring them to the attention of fellow learners in a comment to the video. 

We recently talked about the preposition in: what it means and how to use it. While we don't always use an article with the noun following it, we often do. And when we do use in with a definite article, we combine the preposition and the article to form what we call una preposizione articolata (an "articled" preposition). 

Basically, the n, instead of being at the end of the preposition in, gets moved to the beginning of the word and is followed by an e. After that, the ending will change according to the gender and number of the definite article, as well as whether the word following it starts with a vowel.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Here's the list:

(in + il) nel 

(in + lo) nello 

(in + l') nell' 

(in + la) nella 

(in + i) nei 

(in + le) nelle

in plus a masculine singular article il

Nel frattempo, riempiamo una pentola d'acqua.

In the meantime, we'll fill a pot with water.

Caption 21, L'Italia a tavola - Penne alla Toma Piemontese

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We say nel because it's il frattempo. But here's a tip. Actually, we rarely say il frattempo. Most of the time you will find the noun frattempo together with the preposition nel. It's curious because the noun frattempo already comes from another preposition fra (between) and the noun tempo (time). In English we can say "in the meantime" or "meanwhile," which mean almost the same thing. But we need to translate both of these as nel frattempo or, alternatively, nel mentre, which means the same thing.

in plus the masculine singular article lo

Questo è fondamentale quando ci si trova

This is fundamental when you find yourself,

appunto nello studio di doppiaggio

in fact, in the dubbing studio

a dover affrontare un, un testo oppure un personaggio.

and need to deal with a script or a character.

Captions 16-17, Arianna e Marika - Il lavoro di doppiatrice

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We say nello because we say lo studio (the studio). So here, you have to pay attention to the first letter of the word following the preposition. It will start with an S plus a consonant, or a Z, and sometimes Y.

Quanti libri hai nello zaino?

How many books do you have in your backpack?

Caption 9, Marika spiega - La particella NE

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Oppure nello yogurt, la mela sciolta diciam'...

Or else in some yogurt, an apple dissolved, let's say...

ridotta a polpa nello yogurt, sempre sul viso, è idratante.

reduced to a pulp in some yogurt, again on the face, is moisturising.

Caption 22, Enea - Mela Part 2

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Il tasto "play" e "pause"

The "play" and "pause" button

si trova esattamente nello stesso punto del pannello di controllo.

is located in exactly the same spot on the control panel.

Captions 15-16, Italian Intro - Serena

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in plus the masculine or feminine singular definite article l'

We use l' when the first letter of the word following the article starts with a vowel. We double the L and add an apostrophe.

Nell'ultimo ventennio,

In the last twenty years,

i coronavirus si sono imposti all'attenzione del mondo

coronaviruses have caught the attention of the entire world

in tre momenti precisi.

in three precise moments.

Captions 27-29, COVID-19 - Domande frequenti

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Allora, può intagliare così,

So, they can make an incision like this,

può intagliare un pomodoro così,

they can cut a notch in a tomato like so,

mettere una pentola d'acqua a bollire

put up a pot of water to boil,

e tenere i pomodori

and keep the tomatoes

nell'acqua bollente per dieci minuti.

in the boiling water for ten minutes.

Captions 10-14, L'Italia a tavola - La pappa al pomodoro

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in plus the feminine singular article la

È da circa otto minuti che i nostri spaghetti

It's been about eight minutes that our spaghetti

stanno cuocendo nella pentola.

has been cooking in the pot.

Caption 38, Adriano - Spaghetti pomodoro e aglio

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in plus the masculine plural definite article i

E due luoghi sacri si trovano proprio nei punti più alti della città.

And two sacred places are found right at the highest points of the city.

Caption 12, Meraviglie - EP. 1 - Part 10

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in plus the feminine plural definite article le

Leonardo, molto spesso, nelle sue opere,

Leonardo, very often in his works,

faceva le figure centrali

made the central figures

quasi fossero delle piramidi

almost as if they were pyramids

e poi i dodici apostoli sono suddivisi in gruppi di tre.

and then, the twelve apostles are divided into groups of three.

Captions 10-13, Meraviglie - EP. 3 - Part 12

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Olivetti è sempre riuscito nelle cose che ha intrapreso.

Olivetti has always succeeded in the things he has undertaken.

Caption 46, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep.2

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

In future lessons, we will talk about other preposizioni articolate that follow these same principles.

See this lesson about di (of): 

See this lesson about in (to, in, at).