🔍 In short. The Italian di cui has two uses worth singling out. After a number or a quantity it works like English including or of whom: hanno arrestato cinque persone, di cui due minorenni means they arrested five people, including two minors. The second Italian di cui pattern works with a noun like libro, articolo, or delibera, like English mentioned or that I talked about: il libro di cui ti parlavo means the book I was telling you about. Both Italian di cui uses come from the same relative pronoun. The shift is in what comes before it. This Italian di cui guide separates the two patterns, shows when natives prefer dei quali instead, and explains why di cui sopra belongs to legal Italian.
Most B2 learners meet Italian di cui in its second type first, the one that pairs with a verb of speaking, writing, thinking, or remembering. The partitive Italian di cui catches them by surprise. They translate di cui as of which and end up with sentences that sound stiff in English. The natural rendering is often including. Italian newspapers, court rulings, school reports, and parliamentary minutes use this pattern dozens of times a day. Once you spot it, you stop translating word for word and start hearing the structure.
The two uses share one thing: Italian di cui is always preceded by something concrete. With the partitive use it is a number, a quantity, or a noun expressing a set. With the mentioned use it is a noun representing the thing being talked about. Italian does not strand prepositions, so what English drops at the end of a sentence, Italian keeps right next to the relative pronoun. We will look at each pattern in turn, with examples drawn from a real newsroom in Ravenna where two journalists, Daniela and Emanuele, draft local stories all day.
Cosa impareremo oggi
👆🏻 Jump to sections
- What di cui actually means
- First use: di cui as including
- Second use: di cui as that I was telling you about
- The legal sister: di cui sopra
- When natives switch to dei quali
- Cousin pattern: tra cui
- Why English strands and Italian does not
- Cheat sheet
- In a Ravenna newsroom: Daniela and Emanuele
- Mistakes to avoid
- Mini-challenge
- Frequently asked questions
- Related guides
What Italian di cui actually means
Imagine Daniela in a Ravenna newsroom skimming the police log. She finds a line that reads fermati otto giovani, di cui tre senza documenti. The English version that comes naturally is eight youngsters stopped, three of them without ID, or more idiomatically including three without ID. The Italian di cui here is not asking the reader to think about a possessive or a complement. It is splitting a set: out of the eight, three. That is the partitive heart of this use of Italian di cui, and it is the one most learners discover too late.
The same pronoun, in a different setting, plays a different role. When Emanuele says il pezzo di cui parliamo stamattina esce domani in prima pagina, the Italian di cui is wrapped around parlare di qualcosa: to talk about something. The literal translation is the piece of which we talk, but no English speaker would say that. The natural rendering is the piece we are talking about. So we have one pronoun with two distinct jobs: distributing a quantity, and replacing the object of a verb that takes di. Both are correct, both are constantly used, and confusing them produces strange-sounding Italian.
One more thing to settle before we move on. The form cui by itself, without di, is also a relative pronoun, but it answers to other prepositions: a cui for indirect objects, con cui for company, in cui for place and time, per cui for reason. We are not covering those here. Our focus is the combination Italian di cui, and only the two senses listed above. If you are unsure about cui in general, the broader hub Italian relative pronouns: che, cui, il quale, whose walks you through the full set.
First use: Italian di cui as including
The partitive Italian di cui always sits next to a numbered or quantified group. The pattern is:
noun + number + virgola + di cui + subset
The subset can be another number with a noun or adjective, or a noun alone, or even a participle. Examples from Daniela’s notebook this week:
- Hanno arrestato cinque persone, di cui due minorenni.
They arrested five people, including two minors. - Sono arrivate quaranta segnalazioni, di cui la metà già verificate.
Forty reports came in, half of which already verified. - Il consiglio ha votato sette emendamenti, di cui tre respinti.
The council voted on seven amendments, three of which rejected. - La mostra ospita opere di dieci artisti, di cui sei stranieri.
The exhibition hosts works by ten artists, six of them foreign. - Abbiamo intervistato dodici testimoni, di cui nessuno disposto a parlare in chiaro.
We interviewed twelve witnesses, none of whom willing to speak openly.
Notice three things. First, the comma before Italian di cui is non-negotiable: it signals the partitive shift. Without the comma the sentence sounds wrong. Second, no auxiliary verb appears inside the partitive clause. Italian writes di cui due morti, not di cui due sono morti. The verb is understood. Third, the subset can be heterogeneous: hanno parlato vari stranieri, di cui uno spagnolo, un francese e quattro maltesi. Italian allows a list of items after Italian di cui, while English usually breaks them up.
Translating into English requires choice. Including works when the subset is presented as part of a larger total. Of whom or of which works in a more formal register. Among them works when the subset is a list. All three are correct depending on context. What does not work is leaving the structure word for word: they arrested five people, of which two minors is grammatically odd in English. Translate the function, not the form.
🔍 Mini-task. Add di cui to make a clean partitive sentence.
- Hanno spedito venti pacchi, ______ tre danneggiati.
- Sono iscritti trenta studenti, ______ cinque stranieri.
- La biblioteca ha duemila volumi, ______ trecento in francese.
👉 Show answers
1. di cui tre danneggiati · 2. di cui cinque stranieri · 3. di cui trecento in francese
Second use: Italian di cui as that I was telling you about
The second use of Italian di cui belongs to relative clauses built around verbs that take the preposition di. The most frequent are parlare di, scrivere di, discutere di, occuparsi di, fidarsi di, ricordarsi di, aver bisogno di, aver paura di, vergognarsi di. When you want to make one of these verbs hang off a noun in a relative clause, Italian pulls the preposition forward and slots cui right after it. The result is Italian di cui:
- Il libro di cui ti parlavo è sullo scaffale di sopra.
The book I was telling you about is on the shelf above. - L’articolo di cui andiamo orgogliosi è uscito ieri.
The article we are proud of came out yesterday. - È la persona di cui ho più bisogno in redazione.
She is the person I need the most in the newsroom. - Quel dossier, di cui ci occupiamo da settimane, esce lunedì.
That dossier, which we have been working on for weeks, comes out Monday. - Il regista, di cui si era persa traccia, è riapparso a un festival in Romagna.
The director, whose trace had been lost, reappeared at a festival in Romagna.
This is the pattern English most often translates by simply dropping the preposition at the end: the book I was telling you about. Italian cannot do that. It must keep di joined to cui, and the pair must come immediately after the noun. Splitting them is impossible: you cannot say il libro cui ti parlavo di. The order is locked.
A useful test: rewrite the relative clause as a standalone sentence and check that di appears before the noun. Il libro di cui ti parlavo rebuilds as ti parlavo di un libro. L’articolo di cui andiamo orgogliosi rebuilds as andiamo orgogliosi di un articolo. If the preposition is di in the rebuilt sentence, you need Italian di cui in the relative version. If it is a, you need a cui. If it is con, you need con cui. The principle generalizes.
The legal sister: Italian di cui sopra
Italian administrative and legal prose has hardened a special compact form: di cui sopra, di cui sotto, di cui all’articolo, di cui in oggetto. The function is to refer back to something already mentioned earlier in the document. English uses aforementioned, above-mentioned, as per, or simply the said. Daniela uses these constantly when she paraphrases a council resolution or a court ruling:
- La delibera di cui sopra è entrata in vigore lunedì.
The above-mentioned resolution came into force on Monday. - La proposta di cui in oggetto è stata bocciata.
The proposal referred to in the subject line was rejected. - Si applicano le norme di cui all’articolo 12.
The rules set out in article 12 apply.
These Italian di cui formulas are frozen. You will hear them in city hall, in courtrooms, in ministerial circulars, on commercial contracts. Spoken Italian outside that context avoids them: nobody says il caffè di cui sopra è freddo at the bar. If you write to an Italian public office, however, this is exactly the register that gets your letter taken seriously. The Treccani entry on pronomi relativi documents the same usage and notes its bureaucratic flavour.
When natives switch to dei quali
Italian has a parallel form for the partitive Italian di cui: dei quali, delle quali. It is built on il quale, which agrees in gender and number with the antecedent. Native speakers usually prefer it after indefinite pronouns and complex quantifiers, where di cui can sound clipped or ambiguous.
- Ho provato sette apparati, tre dei quali funzionavano male.
I tried seven devices, three of which were not working. - Ha invitato venti colleghi, alcuni dei quali non si sono presentati.
He invited twenty colleagues, some of whom did not show up. - Ci sono molte ipotesi, ognuna delle quali merita una verifica.
There are many hypotheses, each of which deserves checking.
The rule of thumb: if the subset starts with an indefinite (alcuni, molti, parecchi, pochi, nessuno) or a distributive (ognuno, ciascuno), use dei quali. If it starts with a bare number (due, tre, la metà), both Italian di cui and dei quali are fine, with Italian di cui being shorter and slightly more journalistic. The Treccani entry on che o il quale spells out the same preference for dei quali with indefinite plurals.
Italian di cui versus tra cui
Alongside partitive Italian di cui, Italian uses tra cui (or fra cui) with a very similar meaning. The difference is subtle and worth memorizing. Italian di cui presents the subset as a slice extracted from a stated total. Tra cui presents the subset as a sample picked out from inside the group, without insisting on the total. Both translate as including in English, but Italian speakers pick one or the other depending on the angle.
- Pubblichiamo otto interviste, di cui sei a sindaci. (slice from a total of eight)
We are publishing eight interviews, six of them with mayors. - Pubblichiamo interviste a varie figure, tra cui sei sindaci. (sample from a wider group)
We are publishing interviews with various figures, including six mayors.
Practical advice: if you can put a number on the total, prefer Italian di cui. If you cannot, prefer tra cui. Newspapers use both interchangeably in the same article, but careful writing keeps the distinction alive.
Why English strands and Italian does not
English allows the speaker to drop the preposition at the end of a clause: the book I was telling you about. The preposition about floats off, disconnected from its noun phrase. Italian does not let prepositions hang loose. The preposition has to march with the relative pronoun, attached and visible. So about becomes di, and di latches onto cui, and the whole packet Italian di cui shows up right after the noun.
The consequence for learners: any time you would naturally end an English sentence with a preposition, Italian will require you to insert it in front of cui or il quale. The verb parlare di gives Italian di cui, the verb scrivere a gives a cui, the verb viaggiare con gives con cui, the verb contare su gives su cui. This is the deepest reason behind Italian di cui: it is not a special word, it is a regular preposition glued to a regular pronoun, made compulsory by Italian’s refusal to leave prepositions stranded.
Cheat sheet
| Italian | English | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| cinque persone, di cui due minorenni | five people, including two minors | Partitive after a number |
| il libro di cui ti parlavo | the book I was telling you about | Verb + di (parlare di, scrivere di, ecc.) |
| la delibera di cui sopra | the above-mentioned resolution | Frozen legal / administrative formula |
| la proposta di cui in oggetto | the proposal referred to in the subject | Letters, contracts, emails |
| sette apparati, tre dei quali funzionavano male | seven devices, three of which were not working | Alternative form, more formal |
| alcuni dei quali | some of which / of whom | Always after indefinite plural pronouns |
| varie figure, tra cui sei sindaci | various figures, including six mayors | Sample from open group, total not stated |
In a Ravenna newsroom: Daniela and Emanuele
Daniela is the senior editor at a Ravenna daily. Emanuele has been on the city desk for three months. It is Thursday afternoon and they are going through the next morning’s front page.
👩🏼🦰 Daniela: Allora, Emanuele, riassumimi il pezzo sulle firme della Darsena.
👨🏽🦱 Emanuele: Hanno raccolto trecento firme, di cui duecento solo nel quartiere. Il comitato di cui ti parlavo lunedì ha tenuto un banchetto fuori dal mercato.
👩🏼🦰 Daniela: Bene. E la delibera comunale?
👨🏽🦱 Emanuele: La delibera di cui sopra è del 14 maggio. Cito il numero in nota.
👩🏼🦰 Daniela: Perfetto. Quante reazioni hai raccolto?
👨🏽🦱 Emanuele: Otto, di cui tre dell’opposizione e cinque della maggioranza. Tutte registrate.
👩🏼🦰 Daniela: Aggiungi una riga sui residenti, tra cui qualche commerciante storico. Aiuta il colore.
👨🏽🦱 Emanuele: Già fatto. Ho parlato con quattro commercianti, di cui due aperti da più di trent’anni.
👩🏼🦰 Daniela: Una cosa: il dossier di cui parliamo adesso è quello sul porto, vero?
👨🏽🦱 Emanuele: Esatto, quello di cui ti ho mandato la prima bozza ieri sera.
👩🏼🦰 Daniela: Bene. Lo chiudiamo per le sette. È un pezzo di cui andremo orgogliosi.
Notice the rotation. Daniela and Emanuele use the partitive Italian di cui three times (firme, reazioni, commercianti), the mentioned Italian di cui twice (comitato, dossier), the legal di cui sopra once, and tra cui once. All in nine exchanges. This density is normal for a working Italian newsroom.
Mistakes to avoid
Three errors recur in B2 student writing. Once you have seen them, they become easy to spot.
- Stranding the preposition. Wrong: il libro cui ti parlavo di. Right: il libro di cui ti parlavo. The preposition must precede cui, never trail it.
- Forgetting the comma in partitive sentences. Wrong: hanno arrestato cinque persone di cui due minorenni. Right: hanno arrestato cinque persone, di cui due minorenni. Without the comma the sentence sounds incomplete.
- Using di cui after an indefinite plural. Wrong: alcuni di cui non si sono presentati. Right: alcuni dei quali non si sono presentati. With alcuni, molti, parecchi, pochi, native speakers default to dei quali.
A bonus warning on Italian di cui: do not translate English about which as su cui when the underlying verb is parlare di. The book Daniela was telling you about is il libro di cui ti parlava, not il libro su cui ti parlava. Su cui would imply the book was the physical surface or topic the speaker was perched on. Verb governs preposition; preposition governs cui.
🔍 Mini-task. Choose between di cui and dei quali / delle quali.
- Ho ricevuto venti messaggi, ______ tre urgenti.
- Ha invitato molti amici, alcuni ______ non si sono presentati.
- Ci sono dieci ipotesi, ognuna ______ va verificata.
- L’azienda ha tre sedi, ______ due all’estero.
👉 Show answers
1. di cui (bare number, both possible, di cui preferred) · 2. dei quali (indefinite plural) · 3. delle quali (distributive ognuna) · 4. di cui (bare number, both possible, di cui preferred)
🎯 Mini-challenge
Write three Italian sentences, one for each use of Italian di cui. The first should be partitive (with a number), the second should pair with a verb of speaking or writing, the third should use the frozen formula di cui sopra. Then translate them into natural English without copying the structure word for word.
👉 Sample answers
1. Il giornale ha pubblicato dieci articoli, di cui quattro di approfondimento.
The paper published ten articles, four of them in-depth pieces.
2. La proposta di cui scrivo riguarda il restauro del teatro.
The proposal I am writing about concerns the restoration of the theatre.
3. La legge di cui sopra è stata modificata nel 2024.
The above-mentioned law was amended in 2024.
Test your understanding
Take the quiz below to test what you have learned about Italian di cui in its two main uses.
Frequently asked questions
These are the questions that come up most often when B2 learners try to internalize the two uses of Italian di cui. The Treccani pronomi relativi entry and the Accademia della Crusca consultation on cui give the institutional answers; what follows synthesizes both with examples drawn from the patterns above.
Can I always swap di cui with dei quali in the partitive use?
Almost always, with a slight register difference. After a bare number both work: cinque persone, di cui due minorenni and cinque persone, due delle quali minorenni are both correct. Di cui is shorter and feels more journalistic. Dei quali is more formal and avoids any ambiguity about gender and number, since it agrees with the antecedent. After an indefinite plural like alcuni, molti, pochi, parecchi, you have to use dei quali: alcuni dei quali non si sono presentati. The form alcuni di cui is considered awkward by native speakers and is avoided in careful writing.
Is tra cui the same as di cui in the including sense?
They overlap but they are not identical. Di cui presents the subset as a clean slice of a stated total: cinque persone, di cui due minorenni. The total of five is fixed, two are picked out of it. Tra cui presents the subset as a sample picked out of a wider, often vaguer group: vari ospiti, tra cui due ministri. The total is not necessarily stated, the focus is on the noteworthy members of the group. In journalism the two forms often appear side by side; in careful writing they keep their distinction.
Why does di cui sopra feel so formal?
Because it is a frozen formula from legal and administrative Italian. The structure goes back to medieval and Renaissance legal Latin, where references back to earlier paragraphs needed compact markers. Modern administrative Italian inherited it and uses it in contracts, court rulings, council resolutions, and official letters. Outside that context the formula sounds out of place. You will never hear di cui sopra at a dinner table, but you will see it constantly on government websites and in any document signed by a notary or a lawyer.
Can I start a sentence with di cui?
Not in standard usage. Di cui is a relative pronoun and needs a preceding antecedent. You can place it after a colon when the antecedent is in a previous clause, as in writing a list: Ecco i candidati: di cui tre con esperienza all’estero. But starting a paragraph with Di cui is grammatically incomplete. The only common exception is the legal formula Di cui all’articolo or Di cui sopra at the start of a numbered clause in a contract, where the antecedent is the document itself or an earlier provision.
What is the difference between di cui due morti and due dei quali morti?
Both are correct, both translate as two of whom died. Di cui due morti is the standard newspaper rendering: compact, no verb, the subset hangs off the comma like a tail. Due dei quali morti reverses the order, putting the number first and the relative pronoun second; it sounds slightly more formal and is preferred when the relative clause carries a full verb, as in due dei quali sono morti sul colpo. In headlines and news leads, di cui wins for brevity. In reports, depositions, and academic prose, dei quali appears more often.
Does di cui ever take an article like il di cui?
Only in old-fashioned literary or notarial style. Forms like una contessa, le di cui figlie or un filosofo, il di cui parere were common in nineteenth-century prose and still surface in formal legal documents. Modern Italian rewrites these as le figlie di cui and il parere di cui, with the article and the noun placed normally. If you encounter il di cui in a contract or a historical novel, treat it as a stylistic relic; do not reproduce it in your own writing unless you are deliberately aiming for that register.
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Related guides
- Italian Relative Pronouns: Che, Cui, Il Quale, Whose. The full hub on the relative pronoun system, of which this post is a focused spin-off.
- Italian Reduced Relatives: Una Lettera Arrivata. Sister B2 post on how Italian builds relative clauses without a finite verb.
- How to Say WHAT in Italian: Che, Cosa, Che Cosa, Chi. Useful background on the broader family of che and cui.
- Treccani entry on pronomi relativi. Italian institutional reference.
