Italian Preposition DI: 13 Uses + Cheat Sheet (B1 Guide)

If you have spent any time reading italian newspapers or eavesdropping in a Bolognese caffè, you have already met the italian preposition di a few hundred times before lunch. It pops up in headlines (il presidente del consiglio), in shopping lists (un chilo di pane), in love songs (parole di Tenco), and in the most innocent small talk (di dove sei?). Treccani lists more than twenty different jobs it can do, from complemento di specificazione to complemento di moto da luogo, and that’s before we get to idioms.

The good news for B1 learners: most uses fall into seven big buckets, and once you see the pattern the italian preposition di stops feeling random. The trickier bit is the articulated form (di + article = del, dello, della, dei, degli, delle), which natives glue together automatically and which English speakers tend to over-translate. We will cover the seven buckets, the articulated forms, the comparison trap (più di vs più che), the partitive (when del means “some”), and the verbs that demand di + infinitive.

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Why italian preposition di matters

Stand outside a panificio in Lucca at seven in the morning and listen: un etto di prosciutto, mezzo chilo di pane, una bottiglia di latte. Three transactions, three appearances of di in under thirty seconds. The italian preposition di is the most common preposition in the language, and arguably the most overworked: corpus data put it well ahead of a, in, and per. That frequency is exactly why English speakers stumble on it, there is rarely a one-to-one match with English of, and translating word-by-word produces clunky Italian.

The seven big jobs of the italian preposition di are possession, origin, material, topic, time, comparison, and partitive. Add the articulated forms (del, dello, della, dei, degli, delle) and verb-plus-di constructions, and you cover roughly 95% of what you hear in daily speech. Let’s take them one by one with examples lifted from real situations, a vivaio, a sartoria, a libreria di quartiere, rather than textbook scenes.

Possession: la borsa di Margherita

In English you have two ways to say who owns what: the Saxon genitive (Margherita’s bag) and the of-construction (the bag of Margherita, which sounds odd). Italian only has the second pattern, and the italian preposition di is what holds it together. The structure is thing + di + owner: noun first, owner after. There is no apostrophe-s, no inversion, no choice. For possession the italian preposition di is the rule, not an option.

• La borsa di Margherita è rimasta in ufficio.
  Margherita’s bag is still at the office.
• Ho preso in prestito la bici di mio fratello.
  I borrowed my brother’s bike.
• Il cane dei vicini abbaia tutta la notte.
  The neighbours’ dog barks all night.
• La casa di campagna dei nonni è vicino a Lucca.
  My grandparents’ country house is near Lucca.

Notice that when the owner is preceded by an article (i vicini, i nonni), the italian preposition di fuses with that article into dei. That fusion is automatic in spoken and written Italian: you will never hear la casa di i nonni. We will see all six articulated forms in their own section below.

Origin: sono di Padova

At a vivaio in Verona, a woman picking out hydrangeas asked Pietro the standard small-talk opener: Di dov’è? It is one of the first phrases tourists learn, and the italian preposition di is doing all the work. With essere, di + city tells your hometown, where you were born, where your roots are. It does not describe a journey: that is da. Sono di Padova means “I’m from Padova” in the sense of “Padova is home”. Vengo da Padova means “I’m arriving from Padova”, I left there this morning.

• Sono di Padova, ma vivo a Firenze da dieci anni.
  I’m from Padova, but I’ve been living in Firenze for ten years.
• Federica è di Bologna, si sente da come parla.
  Federica is from Bologna, you can tell by how she speaks.
• Mio nonno era di un paesino vicino a Genova.
  My grandfather was from a little village near Genova.
• Di dove sei?, Sono di Cagliari, e tu?
  Where are you from?, I’m from Cagliari, and you?

Countries are usually handled with the articulated italian preposition di (la capitale della Francia) or with the preposition in for residence (vivo in Italia). The italian preposition di for origin is reserved for cities and small places: with countries you tend to say vengo dalla Francia, not sono di Francia. There are fossilised exceptions in literary registers, vino di Sicilia on an old wine label, but in everyday speech, di + city is the safe pattern.

Material: una giacca di lino

In a sartoria in Firenze, a customer points at a fabric roll and asks: è di lino o di cotone? The italian preposition di also describes what something is made of. The pattern is noun + di + material, with no article before the material in most cases. This is one of the cleaner uses: English speakers don’t usually trip on it, because of works in the same slot (made of linen).

• Caterina si è comprata una giacca di lino per l’estate.
  Caterina bought herself a linen jacket for the summer.
• Il tavolo in cucina è di legno massiccio.
  The kitchen table is solid wood.
• Una collana di perle vere costa una fortuna.
  A real pearl necklace costs a fortune.
• Quei bicchieri di vetro soffiato vengono da Murano.
  Those blown-glass tumblers come from Murano.

You will sometimes see in instead of the italian preposition di for materials, especially in formal or literary register (una statua in bronzo on a museum label). The two are interchangeable for prestige materials, bronze, marble, gold, but for everyday stuff you pick di. Una borsa di pelle beats una borsa in pelle by a wide margin in spoken usage.

Topic: parlare di calcio

When you talk about something, write about something, hear about something, dream about something, the italian preposition di carries the “about”. This is the complemento di argomento: the topic of the verbal action. Verbs that take di for the topic include parlare, scrivere, sentire, sognare, discutere, pensare (with a nuance, see below), ricordarsi, dimenticarsi.

• Alessia e Lorenzo hanno parlato di politica per due ore.
  Alessia and Lorenzo talked about politics for two hours.
• Ho letto un libro di storia romana che mi ha cambiato la testa.
  I read a book of Roman history that changed how I think.
• Non voglio sentire più parlare di quel progetto.
  I don’t want to hear about that project any more.
• Mi sono ricordata di chiamare il veterinario.
  I remembered to call the vet.

Pensare deserves a footnote. Penso a te means “I’m thinking of you” (your face is in my head). Penso di partire means “I’m planning to leave” (intention). Same verb, different preposition, completely different meaning. The italian preposition di with pensare introduces an opinion or a plan; a introduces who or what is the object of your mental attention.

Time of day: di mattina, di notte

One of the cleaner habits of the italian preposition di is marking parts of the day in a generic, habitual sense. Di mattina means “in the morning” as a rule, every morning, mornings in general. La mattina with the article means roughly the same, but feels slightly more specific. Alle otto di mattina pins down a clock time. The pattern with di drops the article, which is what trips English speakers up: there is no di la mattina.

• Di mattina bevo solo un caffè, non riesco a mangiare.
  In the morning I only have a coffee, I can’t manage to eat.
• Tommaso lavora di notte e dorme di giorno.
  Tommaso works at night and sleeps during the day.
• D’estate Parma diventa rovente, meglio andare al mare.
  In summer Parma gets scorching, better to head to the coast.
• La biblioteca apre alle nove di mattina e chiude alle sette di sera.
  The library opens at nine in the morning and closes at seven in the evening.

Seasons take the elision too: d’estate, d’inverno, d’autunno, di primavera. Treccani lists d’ + vowel as obligatory in these fossilised formulas, d’amore e d’accordo, d’epoca, d’oro. You can’t say di estate or di amore; with these set phrases the italian preposition di is always written with an apostrophe.

Comparison: più di or più che?

Italian builds comparisons with two competing connectors: the italian preposition di, and che. The italian preposition di is used when you compare two different nouns or pronouns on the same quality (Margherita è più alta di Caterina). Che steps in when the comparison involves two qualities of the same person (è più simpatica che bella), two infinitives (è più facile dire che fare), or after a preposition (vado più a Firenze che a Lucca). Getting the choice right is one of the most reliable signs of a B1+ speaker.

• Pietro è più paziente di sua sorella.
  Pietro is more patient than his sister.
• Questo film è più lungo di quanto pensassi.
  This film is longer than I thought.
• Federica conosce più l’italiano dell’inglese (di + article).
  Federica knows Italian better than English.
• Mangiare bene a casa costa meno di mangiare al ristorante.
  Eating well at home costs less than eating at a restaurant.

Rule of thumb: if both sides of the comparison are simple nouns, names or pronouns, go with di. If one side is a verb, an adjective, or starts with a preposition, switch to che. Più di me (pronoun, di), più studio che lavoro (two nouns but with intrinsic verbal meaning, che), più di quanto credi (with quanto, di). The italian preposition di in comparison is the default; che marks an exception.

Partitive: del pane, dei libri

The partitive is where the italian preposition di does its most English-speaker-unfriendly trick: it fuses with the article to mean “some”. Del pane means “some bread”, dei libri means “some books”, delle ragazze means “some girls”. The pattern is just the italian preposition di + definite article, but the meaning is the indefinite quantity English handles with some or any. Northern Italian uses partitives more freely than Southern Italian, which often drops them altogether (compro pane vs compro del pane).

• Ho comprato del pane fresco al panificio di via Garibaldi.
  I bought some fresh bread at the bakery on via Garibaldi.
• Niccolò ha invitato degli amici per cena sabato.
  Niccolò invited some friends over for dinner on Saturday.
• Vorrei delle informazioni sul corso serale, per favore.
  I’d like some information about the evening course, please.
• In frigo abbiamo del latte e delle uova, basta per la frittata.
  In the fridge we have some milk and some eggs, enough for the frittata.

Two warnings. In negative sentences the partitive italian preposition di disappears: non ho pane, not non ho del pane. And in questions natives often drop it for naturalness: vuoi acqua? is more idiomatic than vuoi dell’acqua?. Don’t over-use the partitive, it sounds bookish if you sprinkle it on every noun.

Articulated forms: del, dello, della, dei, degli, delle

Whenever the italian preposition di meets a definite article, the two fuse. There are six forms of the articulated italian preposition di, one per article shape, and Italian grammar treats them as single words. You don’t say di il, di lo, di la, di i, di gli, di le, ever. The fusion is automatic and obligatory.

Article	di + article	Example
il (masc. sing.)	del	il libro del professore
lo (masc. sing., z/s+cons/etc.)	dello	la lezione dello zio
l’ (vowel)	dell’	la macchina dell’insegnante
la (fem. sing.)	della	la casa della nonna
i (masc. pl.)	dei	il cane dei vicini
gli (masc. pl., z/s+cons/etc./vowel)	degli	la festa degli studenti
le (fem. pl.)	delle	il giardino delle suore

The shape of the article that fuses with the italian preposition di depends on the noun that follows, not on the noun that precedes. Il libro dello zio: dello because zio starts with z. La macchina dell’insegnante: dell’ because insegnante starts with a vowel. Italian children pick this up by age five; adult learners pick it up by drilling the seven rows above until the right form jumps out automatically.

Verb + di + infinitive

Dozens of Italian verbs require the italian preposition di before a following infinitive. There is no logic, the verb just selects its preposition, and you memorise the pairing. The italian preposition di in this slot has no translation: it’s a structural marker. Common di-verbs include cercare di (to try), decidere di, finire di, smettere di, sperare di, pensare di (to plan), credere di, dire di, chiedere di, ricordarsi di, dimenticarsi di, promettere di.

• Cerco di studiare almeno un’ora al giorno.
  I try to study at least one hour a day.
• Ho deciso di iscrivermi a un corso di cucina.
  I’ve decided to sign up for a cooking course.
• Smetto di fumare il primo del mese, promesso.
  I’ll quit smoking on the first of the month, I promise.
• Speriamo di trovare un appartamento prima di settembre.
  We hope to find an apartment before September.

The pair to watch is cercare di vs cercare. Cercare with the italian preposition di + infinitive means “to try to do something” (effort). Cercare without preposition + noun means “to look for” (search). Cerco di capire = “I’m trying to understand”. Cerco le chiavi = “I’m looking for the keys”. Same verb, two grammars, two meanings. Many adjectives also take the italian preposition di before an infinitive: sono contento di vederti, è capace di farlo da solo, siamo stanchi di aspettare.

Cheat sheet

One table to keep on your desk. Every job of the italian preposition di on one page, with a sample sentence you can adapt.

Role	Pattern	Example
Possession	thing + di + owner	la borsa di Margherita
Origin (essere)	sono + di + city	sono di Padova
Material	noun + di + material	una giacca di lino
Topic	verb + di + topic	parlare di calcio
Time of day	di + part of day	di mattina, d’estate
Comparison (two nouns)	più/meno + adj + di + noun	più alto di me
Partitive (some)	di + article + noun	del pane, delle mele
Verb + infinitive	verb + di + infinitive	cerco di capire
Adjective + infinitive	adj + di + infinitive	contento di vederti
Specification	noun + di + noun	un libro di storia
Cause	verb + di + cause	tremare di freddo
Manner	fixed expressions	di corsa, di nascosto

Dialogue at an enoteca in Padova

Count the appearances of the italian preposition di in the dialogue above: there are well over a dozen, in nearly every role we covered, possession (casa di amici, una selezione di bianchi), origin (di Cagliari), specification (bottiglia di rosso, differenza di prezzo), partitive-like (qualcosa di buono), comparison (più caro di un vino da supermercato, meglio del 2019), verb + infinitive (pensa di passare), and idiomatic (di sicuro, di nuovo). That density is normal, and it’s why the italian preposition di repays the effort of learning it well.

🎯 Mini-challenge

Test your understanding

Twenty questions covering every role of the italian preposition di, including the articulated forms and the partitive trap. If you ace it, the italian preposition di is no longer a mystery.

Frequently asked questions

These are the seven questions B1 learners ask most often about the italian preposition di on forums like WordReference and in our group classes. Treccani’s voce «di» is the authoritative reference if you want to dig deeper. For a sister piece, see our guide to the italian preposition a.

Related guides

• Italian preposition A: the complete guide, sister piece to this one, covering the other big simple preposition.
• Italian prepositions: the full overview, parent hub with all simple and articulated forms.
• Italian prepositions da, in, su, per, the other four simple prepositions and when they replace di.
• Treccani, Preposizioni (Italian), the authoritative native reference on simple and articulated prepositions.