uncountable nouns Flashcards
When talking about non-specific quantities, uncountable nouns usually follow a partitive article (della carne, del formaggio, dell’acqua). If we want to talk about a specific quantity of an uncountable noun, we use units of measurement or other nouns followed by the preposition “di”. Have a look at the examples below:
del latte (some milk) - un litro di latte (one litre of milk) - una bottiglia di latte (a bottle of milk).
della farina (some flour) - mezzo chilo di farina (half a kilo of flour) - un pacco di farina (a packet of flour)
Uncountable nouns are always singular, while countable nouns have a singular and a plural form. Be careful, though! Some nouns can be countable or uncountable depending on the context. Have a look at the example below:
Countable: Mi porta tre caffè per favore? (Can I have three coffees, please?
Uncountable: Devo comprare del caffè. (I need to buy some coffee.
Partitive articles indicate a non-specific quantity (some) of an uncountable noun.
della birra (some beer) dello zucchero (some sugar) dell'acqua (some water) del pane (some bread)
We form partitive articles in exactly the same way: we combine the preposition “di” with the definite article. For uncountable nouns, we only use the singular forms
blank
di + il
del
di + lo
dello
di + la
della
di + l’
dell’