Italian Infinitive as Noun: Il Partire (B1)

🔍 In short. The italian infinitive as noun is what you get when you put an article in front of a verb’s basic form and treat the whole thing like a name: il partire (“the leaving”), il dormire (“the sleeping”), il bere (“the drinking”). It works as the subject of a sentence (il partire è sempre triste), as the object after a preposition (nel partire ha lasciato il libro), and it can carry adjectives and adverbs (un bel vivere, il correre velocemente). The construction sits at B1 level because English speakers either reach for the gerund (il partire = “leaving”) or for the abstract noun (la partenza) and lose the in-between option Italian keeps wide open.

By the end of this guide you’ll know when to write il partire instead of la partenza, why nel and col dominate in modern Italian, and how a few infinitives have hardened into regular nouns with plurals (i doveri, i piaceri, gli averi).

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What the italian infinitive as noun is

Stand for ten minutes in Piazza Grande in Arezzo on a Sunday morning and you will hear half a dozen examples of the italian infinitive as noun without realising it. A retired couple sighs il partire dei nipoti la domenica sera è sempre triste. A waiter complains about il dover lavorare anche al ferragosto. The lady at the next table laughs about il bere troppo caffè. In every case the verb form has been promoted to a name: same spelling as the dictionary entry, but now it works inside the sentence the way la partenza, il dovere or il caffè would.

The mechanism behind the italian infinitive as noun is simple: take any verb in its basic form (partire, dormire, bere, vivere, fare) and put a article or modifier in front of it. The article or modifier can be the article (il, lo, un), a demonstrative (quel, questo), or an indefinite (ogni, qualche). From that moment on the infinitive behaves like any masculine singular noun: it can be a subject, an object, sit under a preposition, take adjectives, and even pick up its own object.

  • Il partire da Arezzo all’alba è il mio momento preferito.
    Leaving Arezzo at dawn is my favourite moment.
  • Quel suo parlare di icone bizantine ci ha tenuti svegli per ore.
    That way he has of talking about Byzantine icons kept us awake for hours.
  • Il restaurare opere così antiche richiede una pazienza enorme.
    Restoring such ancient works requires enormous patience.

English speakers translate all three into the -ing form: leaving, talking, restoring. The Italian uses the bare infinitive plus a article or modifier, and the meaning is the same. The trick is to recognise that the slot in the sentence is a noun slot, and to fill it with il + infinitive rather than with the gerund (which in Italian does a different job).

The italian infinitive as noun: article rule il, lo, un, quel

The italian infinitive as noun is always masculine singular, so the article follows the standard rules for any masculine word. Before most consonants you use il: il partire, il bere, il dormire. Before s + consonant, z, gn, ps, x you use lo: lo studiare, lo scrivere. Before a vowel the article elides to l’: l’attendere, l’uscire.

  • Il dormire poco mi rovina la giornata.
    Sleeping little ruins my day.
  • Lo scrivere ogni sera è il suo modo per rilassarsi.
    Writing every evening is his way of relaxing.
  • L’attendere il restauratore fino a mezzanotte mi ha spossata.
    Waiting for the restorer until midnight wore me out.

Indefinite and demonstrative articles or modifiers work just as well. Un appiattire la persona umana (“a flattening of human personhood”) puts the indefinite article in front; quel suo parlarmi della domenica (“that way he had of talking to me about Sundays”) uses the demonstrative; ogni partire in a poem might mean “every leaving”. The article is not even strictly required: fumare nuoce alla salute (“smoking damages your health”) is already an infinitive used as the subject, just without the visible il. The Treccani entry on infinito sostantivato covers all four article or modifier types in detail.

🎯 Mini-task #1: Add the correct article (il, lo, l’) to each infinitive.

  1. ___ partire all’alba è la cosa che amo di più.
  2. ___ studiare di notte non mi rende efficiente.
  3. ___ uscire alle sei del mattino richiede disciplina.
  4. ___ bere acqua durante la mostra è obbligatorio.
  5. ___ scrivere a mano lo rilassa.
  6. ___ aspettare il treno è la parte più noiosa del viaggio.
👉 Show answers

 

1. Il partire (consonant) · 2. Lo studiare (s + consonant) · 3. L’uscire (vowel) · 4. Il bere (consonant) · 5. Lo scrivere (s + consonant) · 6. L’aspettare (vowel)

Italian infinitive as noun vs abstract noun: il partire or la partenza?

For many verbs Italian offers two ways to make a noun: the abstract noun built from the verb (la partenza, il pensiero, la corsa) and the infinitive used as a noun (il partire, il pensare, il correre). Both are correct. The choice depends on what you want to highlight.

The abstract noun names the event as a finished, packaged thing: la partenza è alle otto, la sua morte ha sconvolto tutti, il pensiero mi tormenta. The italian infinitive as noun keeps the verbal flavour alive: it points at the act of doing, the ongoing process, the action seen from the inside. Il partire is leaving as an experience; la partenza is the departure as a scheduled item. Compare:

  • La partenza è prevista per le sette in punto.
    Departure is scheduled for seven sharp. (event)
  • Il partire da Arezzo all’alba è sempre stato il mio momento preferito.
    Leaving Arezzo at dawn has always been my favourite moment. (the act, the experience)
  • La corsa dura due ore.
    The run lasts two hours. (event)
  • Si è specializzato nel correre velocemente.
    He has specialised in running fast. (the activity, the practice)

Native speakers do not always feel a strict line between the two. In speech they pick whichever sounds smoother. But the underlying pattern holds: when the verb’s action is what matters (the doing, the doing of it again and again, the doing as a topic), the italian infinitive as noun tends to win. When the event is what matters (the departure, the death, the run as a thing), the abstract noun wins. A rough test: if you can swap in “the act of leaving” in English without sounding strange, Italian probably wants the italian infinitive as noun construction.

Adjectives and adverbs with the italian infinitive as noun

Once the italian infinitive as noun starts behaving like a real noun it can pick up the trimmings nouns carry. Adjectives are always masculine singular because the infinitive-noun is masculine singular. Adverbs follow the infinitive the way they would follow any verb. Both options sit naturally inside the same sentence.

  • Era proprio un bel vivere, quello degli antichi mercanti di Arezzo.
    It really was a fine life, that of the old Arezzo merchants.
  • Il fare in fretta, in questo lavoro, rovina tutto.
    Doing things in a rush, in this job, ruins everything.
  • Si è specializzato nel correre velocemente sui sentieri del Casentino.
    He has specialised in running fast on the Casentino trails.
  • Quel continuo entrare e uscire di visitatori ci ha sfiniti.
    That continuous in-and-out of visitors wore us down.

The italian infinitive as noun can even take two coordinated verbs joined by e: un continuo entrare e uscire, il dare e l’avere, il dire e il fare as in the proverb tra il dire e il fare c’è di mezzo il mare (“there’s a sea between saying and doing”). Two infinitives, one article each, treated as one nominal idea.

When the italian infinitive as noun takes its own object

Here Italian does something English never does. The italian infinitive as noun can take its own direct object as if it were still a verb. Il bere vino è molto diffuso in Friuli (“drinking wine is widespread in Friuli”): vino is the direct object of bere, even though il bere as a whole is acting as the subject of the sentence. The infinitive keeps one foot in the verb camp.

  • Il bere caffè in Piazza Grande prima dell’apertura è diventato un rito.
    Drinking coffee in Piazza Grande before opening has become a ritual.
  • Il restaurare opere così antiche richiede pazienza enorme.
    Restoring such ancient works requires enormous patience.
  • Il vedere certi colori dal vivo cambia il modo in cui leggi un quadro.
    Seeing certain colours in person changes how you read a painting.
  • Il fumare troppe sigarette al giorno gli ha tolto il fiato.
    Smoking too many cigarettes a day has taken his breath away.

The pattern is: article + infinitive + (object) + (modifiers), the whole package functioning as one noun phrase. Native speakers feel no clash between the noun-like outside and the verb-like inside; it is one of the features that gives written Italian its compressed, slightly elevated register.

Italian infinitive as noun with nel and col

Older Italian put almost any preposition in front of the italian infinitive as noun. Modern Italian has narrowed the field: in practice, only in + article (nel, nello) and con + article (col, collo) remain natural in everyday prose. The other prepositions either disappear or use the bare infinitive instead.

  • Nel partire ha lasciato il quaderno degli appunti sul tavolo.
    On leaving, he left the notebook on the table.
  • Nel preparare la mostra abbiamo trovato un crocifisso del Quattrocento.
    While preparing the exhibition, we found a fifteenth-century crucifix.
  • Col passare degli anni le icone si sono scurite parecchio.
    As the years went by, the icons darkened considerably.
  • Col dire troppo si finisce per dire male.
    By saying too much, you end up saying it badly.

Functionally, nel + infinitive matches English “on doing”, “while doing”, “in doing” (a temporal or circumstantial frame). Col + infinitive matches English “by doing” (instrument, cause). These two are very alive in newspaper and literary Italian. If you want a different preposition (di, a, per, da), drop the article and use the bare infinitive following the verb-and-preposition rules. See the Italian per vs da with infinitives guide for the full picture.

Italian infinitive as noun: frozen plurals i doveri, i piaceri

A handful of infinitives have made the full crossover into the noun camp. They have lost their verb behaviour and now act exactly like ordinary masculine nouns, plural and all. The most common ones are part of daily vocabulary:

  • il dovere → i doveri (duty, duties)
  • il piacere → i piaceri (pleasure, pleasures)
  • il dispiacere → i dispiaceri (sorrow, sorrows)
  • il sapere → only singular (knowledge, learning)
  • l’essere → gli esseri (being, beings)
  • l’avere → gli averi (possession, possessions)
  • il potere → i poteri (power, powers)
  • Gli averi del vecchio antiquario di via Garibaldi sono stati donati al museo.
    The possessions of the old antiquarian on via Garibaldi were donated to the museum.
  • I piaceri piccoli, come una mostra ben curata, valgono più di mille premi.
    Small pleasures, like a well-curated exhibition, are worth more than a thousand prizes.
  • Ognuno ha i propri doveri verso la comunità.
    Everyone has their duties towards the community.

These nouns no longer carry verb objects (you cannot say i doveri lavorare); they take the standard adjective-and-preposition kit (i doveri civici, i piaceri della tavola). When you see one of these words plural, it has crossed fully into the noun side and stopped behaving as an infinitive.

Cheat sheet

The compact view of the italian infinitive as noun, one row per pattern. Use this italian infinitive as noun cheat sheet as a quick lookup.

PatternExampleEnglish
article + infinitive (subject)Il partire è sempre triste.Leaving is always sad.
article + infinitive (object)Amo il dormire fino a tardi.I love sleeping in.
indefinite articleEra un continuo entrare e uscire.It was a continuous coming and going.
demonstrativeQuel suo parlare mi piaceva.That way he had of talking pleased me.
+ adjectiveUn bel vivere, quello.A fine life, that one.
+ adverbNel correre velocemente cadde.While running fast, he fell.
+ direct objectIl bere vino è diffuso.Drinking wine is widespread.
nel + infinitiveNel partire ha sorriso.On leaving, he smiled.
col + infinitiveCol passare degli anni…As the years go by…
frozen pluralI doveri, i piaceri, gli averi.Duties, pleasures, possessions.

Three traps for English speakers

Three slips give an English speaker away when using the italian infinitive as noun in everyday writing. Fixing them is fast.

Trap 1: Reaching for the -ando / -endo form

English “leaving Arezzo is sad” tempts learners into *partendo da Arezzo è triste. Wrong. The -ando/-endo form (the Italian gerund) describes how or while something happens; it does not act as a noun in a subject slot. The correct version is il partire da Arezzo è triste, with the infinitive as noun. Reserve the gerund for adverbial uses (partendo presto, evitiamo il traffico, “by leaving early, we avoid traffic”), and the italian infinitive as noun for the subject or object slot. For the broader infinitive picture see the Italian infinitive forms and uses guide.

Trap 2: Using di or a instead of nel

*Di partire ha lasciato il libro is ungrammatical for “on leaving he left the book”. When you need “on doing” or “while doing” in modern Italian, the preposition is nel + infinitive (with the article), not di + infinitive. Bare di + infinitive does exist, but it is a different construction (object of a verb: cerco di partire, “I try to leave”), not a temporal-circumstantial frame. The same goes for a: a vederlo così (“seeing him like that”) is colloquial but limited; the all-purpose form is nel vederlo così.

Trap 3: Confusing il partire with la partenza

Many learners pick the abstract noun (la partenza, la corsa, il pensiero) every time, because it sounds safer. But Italian draws a distinction: when you want to talk about the act of doing rather than the event of doing, the italian infinitive as noun feels more accurate. La partenza del treno è alle otto (the train’s departure is a scheduled event); il partire da casa la mattina presto mi commuove (the experience of leaving home early in the morning moves me). The two coexist; learn to hear which one each context wants.

🎯 Mini-task #2: Fix or confirm each sentence.

  1. Partendo da Arezzo all’alba è la cosa che amo di più.
  2. Di partire ha lasciato il quaderno sul tavolo della cucina.
  3. Il bere vino in moderazione è diffuso in Toscana.
  4. I doveri verso il museo non si possono ignorare.
  5. Nel preparare la mostra abbiamo trovato due crocifissi.
👉 Show answers

 

1. Il partire da Arezzo all’alba (infinitive-noun in subject slot, not gerund) · 2. Nel partire ha lasciato (temporal-circumstantial frame needs nel, not di) · 3. ✓ correct (infinitive-noun with its own object, vino) · 4. ✓ correct (frozen plural, fully a noun) · 5. ✓ correct (nel + infinitive for “while doing”)

Dialogue at the mostra di arte sacra in Arezzo

Liliana is curating a small exhibition of sacred art in one of the churches off Piazza Grande in Arezzo. Demetrio runs the antiques shop on via Garibaldi and has lent two reliquaries to the show. They meet for coffee the morning the exhibition opens, and the conversation drifts naturally through several infinitives used as nouns. Watch the construction in action.

👩🏻‍🦳 Liliana: Buongiorno Demetrio. Il bere un caffè qui in Piazza Grande prima dell’apertura è diventato un rito, vero?

👨🏼‍🦰 Demetrio: Eh, ormai non riesco più a farne a meno. Allora, com’è andato il preparare la mostra ieri sera?

👩🏻‍🦳 Liliana: Lungo, ti dico la verità. Quell’aspettare il restauratore fino a mezzanotte mi ha proprio spossata. Ma alla fine i due reliquiari sono perfetti, illuminati come si deve.

👨🏼‍🦰 Demetrio: Meno male. Sai, col passare degli anni quei pezzi si erano un po’ scuriti. Nel pulire l’argento dovevamo fare piano, ogni colpo di troppo li rovinava.

👩🏻‍🦳 Liliana: Il fare in fretta, in questo lavoro, è il difetto più grave. Tu ti ricordi quando mio padre diceva «un bel restaurare richiede tempo e silenzio»?

👨🏼‍🦰 Demetrio: Lo diceva sempre. Senti, oggi ci aspetta un continuo entrare e uscire di visitatori, immagino.

👩🏻‍🦳 Liliana: Sì, abbiamo già duecento prenotazioni per la mattinata. Il vedere certi colori dal vivo cambia tutto, lo dico sempre.

👨🏼‍🦰 Demetrio: Concordo. Pensa che nel mio negozio in via Garibaldi entra spesso gente che cerca solo il guardare, senza voler comprare niente. Mi va bene, anzi.

👩🏻‍🦳 Liliana: È il bello di Arezzo. Qui il camminare per le vie del centro al tramonto è già un piccolo viaggio.

👨🏼‍🦰 Demetrio: Verissimo. Allora finiamo il caffè e andiamo, che fra mezz’ora aprono le porte e il partire adesso ci porta giusto in tempo.

👩🏻‍🦳 Liliana: Andiamo. Grazie ancora per i reliquiari, Demetrio. Senza i tuoi prestiti la mostra sarebbe stata molto più povera.

👨🏼‍🦰 Demetrio: Figurati. Per me è un piacere, uno di quei piaceri piccoli che però restano.

What to notice in the dialogue

  • Il bere un caffè: infinitive as subject, with its own object (un caffè).
  • Il preparare la mostra: infinitive-noun introduced by the article, taking its own object.
  • Quell’aspettare: demonstrative + infinitive, with elision of quello.
  • Col passare degli anni: the surviving preposition con + articolo, “as the years go by”.
  • Nel pulire l’argento: the other surviving preposition, in + articolo, “while cleaning the silver”.
  • Un bel restaurare: indefinite article + adjective + infinitive.
  • Un continuo entrare e uscire: two coordinated infinitives under one article or modifier.
  • Quei piaceri piccoli: the frozen plural piaceri, fully a noun now.

Mini-challenge

🎯 Final challenge: Translate into natural Italian using the infinitive as noun.

  1. Sleeping late ruins my morning.
  2. On leaving the shop, he forgot the umbrella.
  3. Drinking too much coffee makes me anxious.
  4. That continuous coming and going of tourists tires me out.
  5. As the years go by, the colours of the icons darken.
  6. His duties at the museum are many.
👉 Show answers

 

1. Il dormire tardi mi rovina la mattinata.

2. Nell’uscire dal negozio, ha dimenticato l’ombrello.

3. Il bere troppo caffè mi rende ansioso.

4. Quel continuo entrare e uscire di turisti mi sfinisce.

5. Col passare degli anni i colori delle icone si scuriscono.

6. I suoi doveri al museo sono molti. (frozen plural, fully a noun)

Mastering the italian infinitive as noun is a small shift in habit in how you build sentences, but it opens up a register that sounds distinctly Italian. Read a few pages of any nineteenth-century novel and the italian infinitive as noun jumps off the page; tune in to a Tuscan conversation in a piazza and you will catch it within minutes. Try writing five of your own examples this week, mixing the article-plus-infinitive with the nel and col constructions, and you will start hearing the difference between il partire and la partenza without having to think about it.

Test your understanding

Take the quiz below to test what you’ve learned about the italian infinitive as noun in real Italian.

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Frequently asked questions

Six questions about the italian infinitive as noun come up in every B1 class on the construction. The grammatical framing draws on the Treccani entry on the Italian infinitive.

When do I need the article il before the infinitive?

You need it whenever the italian infinitive as noun is acting in a slot the sentence makes explicit. Il partire e sempre triste, il dormire mi rilassa, amo il leggere. The article il (or lo, l’ before s+consonant or vowel) marks the italian infinitive as noun and lets the reader process it in a noun slot. Note that the article can be dropped when the italian infinitive as noun is the subject of a generic statement: fumare nuoce alla salute is correct without il. With the article, the italian infinitive as noun sounds slightly more formal or literary; without it, more colloquial. Both are good Italian.

Can I make the infinitive plural?

Only a handful of cases of the italian infinitive as noun have crossed fully into the noun category and accept a plural. The everyday list is short but useful: i doveri (duties), i piaceri (pleasures), i dispiaceri (sorrows), gli esseri (beings), gli averi (possessions), i poteri (powers). These nouns no longer take a verb object: you say i doveri civici, not i doveri lavorare. For all other forms of the italian infinitive as noun the use stays singular: il partire, il dormire, il bere have no normal plural. The Treccani grammar lists the frozen plurals explicitly as a closed set.

What is the difference between il partire and la partenza?

The italian infinitive as noun (il partire) focuses on the act, the experience, the process: il partire da casa all’alba mi commuove (the act of leaving home at dawn moves me). La partenza names the event as a packaged thing, often something scheduled: la partenza del treno e alle otto (the train’s departure is at eight). Many verbs offer both options (il correre / la corsa, il pensare / il pensiero) and native speakers pick whichever sounds smoother in context. A rough test: if you can substitute the act of leaving in English without sounding odd, Italian probably wants the italian infinitive as noun.

Is the infinitive masculine or feminine when used as noun?

The italian infinitive as noun is always masculine singular, no exceptions. That is why the article is always il, lo, or l’ (never la), the indefinite is un or uno (never una), and any adjective takes the masculine singular ending: un bel vivere, il fare lento, lo studiare attento. The italian infinitive as noun never agrees with anything else in the sentence, never goes feminine even if the verbal meaning would suggest a feminine subject. Treat it as a frozen masculine singular noun for all agreement purposes.

Can I use adjectives with the infinitive-noun?

Yes, freely. The italian infinitive as noun allows adjectives (masculine singular: un bel vivere, il facile parlare), adverbs (il correre velocemente, il fare in fretta), and even a direct object (il bere vino, il restaurare opere antiche). Two cases of the italian infinitive as noun can be coordinated under a single article or modifier: un continuo entrare e uscire, il dire e il fare. The whole package functions as one noun phrase in the sentence. This flexibility is one of the reasons writers reach for the italian infinitive as noun: it carries a compressed verb-plus-modifier idea in a single nominal slot.

Why nel correre and not in correre?

In modern Italian only the prepositions in and con (always combined with the article: nel, nello, col, collo) naturally introduce the italian infinitive as noun. The Treccani grammar notes this restriction explicitly. So you say nel partire (on leaving), nel preparare (while preparing), col passare degli anni (as the years go by), col dire troppo (by saying too much). For other prepositions Italian uses the bare infinitive without article: per partire (to leave), da bere (to drink), di vedere (to see). The article disappears, and the construction stops being a true italian infinitive as noun and follows the verb-and-preposition rules instead.

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Riccardo
Milanese, graduated in Italian literature a long time ago, I began teaching Italian online in Japan back in 2003. I usually spend winter in Tokyo and go back to Italy when the cherry blossoms shed their petals. I do not use social media.

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