🔍 In short. When Italians want to talk about a group of people without naming each one, they often point at the place or job those people belong to. That is the italian quelli del shortcut: quelli del municipio means “the town hall people”, quelli della banca means “the bank folks”, quelli del piano di sopra means “the upstairs neighbors”. The recipe is simple. take quelli (those), add di merged with the article (del, della, dei, dell’), then the place or role. Singular works too: quella del bar is “the woman at the bar”, quello dello sportello is “the guy at the counter”. It sounds completely natural to a native ear, and once you hear it you will catch it everywhere. on the phone, at a condo meeting, in the queue at the post office.
This guide walks you through the pattern step by step: how it is built, when Italians reach for it, how the singular and plural change, and how quelli di also names where someone is from. By the end you will use it without thinking.
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👆🏻 Jump to section
- The recipe behind quelli del
- Why Italians name a group by their place
- Getting del, della, dei right
- Singular: quello del, quella della
- Quelli di plus a city: where you are from
- Is it polite? A note on tone
- Cheat sheet
- Dialogue at a condo meeting in Como
- Mini-challenge
- Frequently asked questions
- Related guides
The recipe behind quelli del
Picture a quiet morning in Como. The doorbell rings, your flatmate shouts from the kitchen, and you answer “Sono quelli del gas” before you even think about it. That is the shortcut at work, naming a group by their place. You did not say “the technicians from the gas company who service our building”. You pointed at the place they belong to, and everyone understood. Italians do this constantly, because it is fast and clear.
The recipe has three parts. Start with quelli (those people), add di (of, from), and finish with the place or role. Because di almost always merges with the article, you actually hear del, della, dei, dello, dell’. So the building blocks look like this:
- quelli + del municipio = quelli del municipio (the town hall people)
- quelli + della banca = quelli della banca (the bank folks)
- quelli + dei trasporti = quelli dei trasporti (the transport people)
- quelli + dell’assicurazione = quelli dell’assicurazione (the insurance people)
Notice that quelli del never tells you the exact job title. It just hands you a label, and context fills in the rest. When someone says Sono venuti quelli del gas, you do not picture one specific person, you picture “the gas company crew”. This is exactly why the structure is so handy in real conversation.
Why Italians name a group by their place
English does something similar with “the folks at the bank” or “the people from upstairs”, but Italian leans on it far more often. The reason is convenience. naming a group by their place lets you skip a long, formal description. Instead of “i tecnici della società che gestisce la rete elettrica”, you just say quelli della luce. Short, instantly understood, and it sounds the way real people speak.
You will hear it most around services, offices, and neighbors. the situations where a whole group acts as one faceless unit:
- Hanno telefonato quelli della palestra per il rinnovo. The gym people called about the renewal.
- Quelli del comune non hanno ancora risposto alla domanda. The town council people still haven’t answered the application.
- Devo richiamare quelli dell’officina, la macchina è pronta. I have to call back the garage people, the car is ready.
- Quelli della reception ci hanno cambiato la stanza senza problemi. The reception folks switched our room without any fuss.
- Sono passati quelli della raccolta differenziata stamattina. The recycling collection crew came by this morning.
In every case you could spell out the full job description, but no one does. The short label carries all the meaning you need, and the listener fills in the rest from the situation.
🎯 Mini-challenge: Turn each long phrase into the short quelli del/della label.
- Le persone che lavorano alla banca → ___
- I tecnici che si occupano del gas → ___
- Gli impiegati del comune → ___
- Le persone che lavorano all’assicurazione → ___
- I vicini che abitano al piano di sopra → ___
👉 Show answers
1. quelli della banca
2. quelli del gas
3. quelli del comune
4. quelli dell’assicurazione
5. quelli del piano di sopra
Getting del, della, dei right
The only tricky part of the italian quelli del pattern is choosing the right merged form of di. It depends entirely on the noun that follows, exactly like a normal article. Il municipio gives del municipio, la banca gives della banca, l’assicurazione gives dell’assicurazione, and a plural noun like i trasporti gives dei trasporti. The word quelli itself does not change here. it is the place noun that decides the form.
| Place noun | Its article | Merged with di | Full label |
|---|---|---|---|
| municipio | il | del | quelli del municipio |
| banca | la | della | quelli della banca |
| assicurazione | l’ | dell’ | quelli dell’assicurazione |
| sportello | lo | dello | quello dello sportello |
| trasporti | i | dei | quelli dei trasporti |
| uffici | gli | degli | quelli degli uffici |
If you already feel comfortable with merged forms like al, dal, nel, then del, della, dei after quelli follow the very same logic. The label simply borrows whatever article the place noun would normally take.
Singular: quello del, quella della
The shortcut works just as well for one person. Swap the plural quelli for the singular, and pick the form that matches gender. Quello del for a man, quella della for a woman. This is how Italians point at a single person tied to a place or role without using a name they may not even know.
- Quella del bar mi ha tenuto da parte il giornale. The woman at the bar saved the newspaper for me.
- Quello dello sportello è stato gentilissimo. The guy at the counter was really kind.
- Ho chiesto a quella della reception se c’era posto. I asked the woman at reception if there was room.
- Quello del primo piano lamenta sempre il rumore. The man on the first floor always complains about the noise.
- Devo ringraziare quella della farmacia per il consiglio. I have to thank the woman at the pharmacy for the tip.
Notice how quella del bar does not mean “that bar” or anything about the place itself. it means a specific person you identify by where they work. The place is the label, the person is who you mean. This is the heart of the whole pattern, in singular or plural.
🎯 Mini-challenge: Pick the right singular form, quello or quella, plus the merged article.
- (la signora del bar) Ho salutato ___ del bar.
- (il signore dello sportello) ___ dello sportello ha chiuso presto.
- (la ragazza della reception) ___ della reception parla tre lingue.
- (il vicino del piano di sopra) ___ del piano di sopra ha traslocato.
- (la dottoressa dell’ambulatorio) ___ dell’ambulatorio è in ferie.
👉 Show answers
1. quella del bar
2. Quello dello sportello
3. Quella della reception
4. Quello del piano di sopra
5. Quella dell’ambulatorio
Quelli di plus a city: where you are from
The same shortcut has a close cousin that points at origin instead of a workplace. When the word after di is a city or town, quelli di means “the people from there”. Here di stays bare, with no article, because city names usually take no article. So quelli di Como means “the people from Como”, quelli di Lecce means “the Lecce folks”.
- Quelli di Como hanno un accento un po’ diverso. People from Como have a slightly different accent.
- Allo stadio quelli di Verona fanno sempre un gran tifo. At the stadium the Verona crowd always cheers loudly.
- Quelli di Lecce a tavola sanno il fatto loro. The Lecce folks really know their way around the kitchen.
- A noi di Como il lago piace anche d’inverno. We Como people like the lake even in winter.
This city version feels warm and informal, the kind of thing you say among friends or about a sports crowd. It is the same building idea as quelli del: you label a whole group with one quick phrase, and let everyone fill in who you mean. The only difference is that the place after di is now a town, so the article drops and you get plain di.
Is it polite? A note on tone
The italian quelli del pattern lives in everyday spoken Italian, the relaxed register you use with friends, family, and neighbors. It is not rude, but it is informal, so you would not put it in a formal letter or a business email. In writing you would switch to something fuller, like il personale della banca (the bank staff) or gli addetti del comune (the council officers). In speech, though, quelli della banca is the natural choice, and nobody bats an eye.
Tone matters mostly in how you say it. Said neutrally, quelli del comune is just a label. Said with a sigh and rolled eyes, the same words can carry a hint of “those bureaucrats again”. The structure itself is neutral. the speaker’s mood adds any extra flavor. Among friends, quelli di Como can even be affectionate, a friendly nod to a shared hometown. So treat quelli del as a casual, friendly tool, and reach for fuller wording when the situation turns formal.
Cheat sheet
Here is the whole pattern at a glance. Pick the form by number, gender, and the article the place noun takes.
| Meaning | Form | Italian example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group, place/role | quelli del/della/dei | Sono venuti quelli del gas. | The gas people came. |
| One man, place/role | quello del/dello/dell’ | Quello dello sportello è gentile. | The guy at the counter is kind. |
| One woman, place/role | quella della/dell’ | Quella del bar mi conosce. | The woman at the bar knows me. |
| Group of women | quelle della/dell’ | Quelle della reception sono brave. | The reception women are great. |
| People from a city | quelli di + city | Quelli di Como sono cordiali. | People from Como are friendly. |
| Upstairs neighbors | quelli del piano di sopra | Quelli del piano di sopra fanno rumore. | The upstairs neighbors are noisy. |
Dialogue at a condo meeting in Como
Carlotta and Sebastiano live in the same building in Como and bump into each other before the yearly condo meeting. Watch how often the italian quelli del shortcut shows up when neighbors talk about services, offices, and the people on other floors.
👩🏼🦰 Carlotta: Ciao Sebastiano! Hai sentito quelli dell’amministrazione? Hanno spostato la riunione alle sette.
Hi Sebastiano! Did you hear from the management people? They moved the meeting to seven.
👨🏽🦱 Sebastiano: Sì, mi ha scritto quella della segreteria stamattina. Meno male, alle sei non ce l’avrei fatta.
Yes, the woman from the office wrote to me this morning. Lucky, I couldn’t have made six.
👩🏼🦰 Carlotta: Senti, stasera tirano fuori la storia dell’ascensore? Quelli del piano di sopra si lamentano da mesi.
Listen, are they bringing up the lift tonight? The upstairs neighbors have been complaining for months.
👨🏽🦱 Sebastiano: Credo di sì. Quelli della ditta sono venuti a fare il sopralluogo la settimana scorsa.
I think so. The company people came to do the inspection last week.
👩🏼🦰 Carlotta: E il preventivo? Quelli della banca ci danno il mutuo per i lavori?
And the estimate? Will the bank folks give us the loan for the work?
👨🏽🦱 Sebastiano: Quello dello sportello mi ha detto di portare i documenti entro venerdì. Poi vediamo.
The guy at the counter told me to bring the papers by Friday. Then we’ll see.
👩🏼🦰 Carlotta: Perfetto. Ah, e quelli dell’assicurazione hanno chiamato per il rinnovo della polizza comune.
Perfect. Oh, and the insurance people called about renewing the shared policy.
👨🏽🦱 Sebastiano: Lo dicevo io. Comunque quella del terzo piano porta i biscotti, almeno la riunione è più sopportabile.
I told you so. Anyway the woman on the third floor brings biscuits, at least the meeting is more bearable.
👩🏼🦰 Carlotta: Quella sì che sa come tenerci buoni! A dopo allora, salgo a chiamare anche quelli del quinto.
She really knows how to keep us happy! See you later then, I’ll go up and call the fifth-floor people too.
What to notice in the dialogue
- quelli dell’amministrazione: a whole office named by its role, no individual mentioned.
- quella della segreteria: a single woman, identified by where she works.
- quelli del piano di sopra: neighbors labeled by their floor, the classic condo use.
- quello dello sportello: a single man at the bank counter, gender-matched singular.
- quelli di / quella del terzo piano: floors and places stand in for the people on them.
Mini-challenge
🎯 Final challenge: Translate into natural Italian using the quelli/quello/quella del shortcut.
- The gas people came this morning.
- The woman at the bar saved a table for us.
- The upstairs neighbors are very quiet.
- I called the insurance people about the policy.
- The people from Como are really friendly.
- The guy at the counter was very helpful.
👉 Show answers
1. Stamattina sono venuti quelli del gas.
2. Quella del bar ci ha tenuto un tavolo.
3. Quelli del piano di sopra sono molto tranquilli.
4. Ho chiamato quelli dell’assicurazione per la polizza.
5. Quelli di Como sono davvero cordiali.
6. Quello dello sportello è stato molto disponibile.
Mastering the italian quelli del pattern comes from listening for it in real conversation. Once you start noticing how often Italians name a group by their place, you will reach for quelli del, quella della and quelli di without effort. Pair this guide with the quiz below to lock the pattern in, and revisit it after a week to see what stuck. The italian quelli del shortcut is one of those small structures that instantly makes your spoken Italian sound more natural.
Test your understanding
Take the quiz below to test what you’ve learned about the italian quelli del pattern.
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Frequently asked questions
These questions about the italian quelli del pattern come from real situations learners run into. For the underlying meaning of quello as a stand-alone word, the Treccani vocabolario entry on quello is a reliable native reference.
What does quelli del actually mean?
It means ‘the people at’ or ‘the people from’ a particular place or role. Quelli is ‘those people’, di means ‘of/from’, and the two merge with the article into del, della, dei, dell’. So quelli del municipio is ‘the town hall people’, quelli della banca is ‘the bank folks’, quelli dell’assicurazione is ‘the insurance people’. You name a group by their place or job instead of listing names, and the listener fills in who you mean from context.
How do I choose between del, della, dei and dell’?
The form depends on the place noun that follows, exactly like a normal article. Il municipio gives del municipio, la banca gives della banca, l’assicurazione gives dell’assicurazione, lo sportello gives dello sportello, and a plural like i trasporti gives dei trasporti. The word quelli does not change here. it is the place noun that decides which merged form of di you use. If you already know al, dal, nel, the same merging logic applies.
What is the singular of quelli del?
Use quello del or quello dello / dell’ for a man, and quella della / dell’ for a woman. Quello dello sportello is ‘the guy at the counter’, quella del bar is ‘the woman at the bar’, quella della reception is ‘the woman at reception’. The place still works as the label, but now it points to one person whose name you may not know. Gender of the person decides quello versus quella; the merged article still follows the place noun.
Is quelli del rude or dismissive?
Not by itself. Quelli del belongs to everyday spoken Italian and is perfectly neutral. It can sound slightly impatient if you say it with a sigh, as in quelli del comune again, but that tone comes from your delivery, not the words. Among friends quelli di Como can even be affectionate. In formal writing you would switch to fuller wording like il personale della banca or gli addetti del comune, but in conversation quelli del is the natural, friendly choice.
What does quelli di plus a city mean?
When the word after di is a town or city, quelli di means ‘the people from there’. Quelli di Como is ‘the people from Como’, quelli di Lecce is ‘the Lecce folks’. Here di stays bare with no article, because Italian city names usually take no article. It is the same labeling idea as quelli del, but it points at origin rather than a workplace, and it often has a warm, informal flavor, like talking about a hometown or a sports crowd.
Can I use quelli del in writing or only in speech?
It is mainly a spoken structure, fine for messages to friends, casual notes, and relaxed conversation. In formal contexts, a business email, an official letter, a report, you would replace it with a fuller phrase such as il personale della banca, gli uffici del comune, or gli addetti dell’assicurazione. So treat quelli del as a casual everyday tool: natural and clear in speech, but worth swapping for fuller wording when the register turns formal.
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