How to use possessive constructions with ‘di’ in Italian?

The possessive construction with di is a very common way to express possession and ownership in Italian, as in:

This construction is equivalent to the English possessive “s” construction. In this post we’ll show you how to form it, how to use it, and when di becomes de. Ready? Let’s get to it!

In Italian, there are a few different ways to express possession and ownership. Let’s briefly go over them:

• using the verb avere(to have)

  Lucia ha otto gatti.

  Lucia has/owns eight cats.

• using other verbs conveying ownership, like appartenere(to belong) and possedere(to possess)

  Questo libro appartiene a Sara.

  This book belongs to Sara.

• using possessive adjectives and pronouns

  possessive adjectivepossessive pronoun

  Il mio telefono qui non prende. Il tuo?

  My phone doesn’t have reception here. Yours?

• using constructions with di(of)

  Questa è la stanza di mia sorella.

  This is my sister's room.

In the rest of this post, we’ll focus on the last of these methods. Let’s have a look!

Forming the possessive construction with di is pretty straightforward. You need:

Or, you might just want to create a noun phraseNo definition set for noun phraseLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., like “Leonardo’s bike,” rather than a whole sentence. In that case you just need:

Note the word order in the above example; it’s pretty different from English. Think of la bici di Leonardo as "the bike of Leonardo."

When di is used before a definite articleNo definition set for definite articleLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. (e.g. il, la, gli, ...) the two words contract to form one word, called preposizione articolata(articulated preposition). Here's an example in a sentence:

Since signora requires the definite article la, here comes the combination of di (that turns to de-) and -la. Add an extra l and here you have della. Here are all the articulated forms of the preposition di:

Need a refresher on the uses of definite articles? There are some differences between Italian and English, so you might want to check our comprehensive post.

The construction with di s used to express possession, ownership, or some other close relationship, much like its English equivalent, the possessive “s” construction (e.g. John’s house). Grammatically, though, it’s more like the “of” possession in English:

Here are a few more points to cover about di:

• If you combine di with the interrogative pronoun chi(who), you’ll get the equivalent of “whose”:

  • • Di chi è la macchina nera?

      Whose is the black car?

    • È di Manuela.

      It’s Manuela’s.

  • Non so di chi sia questa felpa. È tua?

    I don’t know whose this sweater is. Is that yours?

  Important

  Note that this is an interrogative pronoun, meaning you use it to introduce questions and interrogative clausesNo definition set for interrogative clausesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum..

  When you use a definite article + cui this also translates to “whose” but this introduces a relative clause that describes the owner, as in:

  possessorpossessed thing

  Anna , la cui macchina è vecchissima, vuole comprare una macchina elettrica.

  Anna, whose car is very old, wants to buy an electric car.

• Finally, the di construction is often used to clarify the meaning of the possessive adjectives or pronouns suo/sua/suoi/sue. In Italian the gender of these adjectives matches the gender of the thing that is owned rather than the gender of the owner. This can sometimes lead to ambiguous sentences, if you could interpret something as having either a male or female possessor. For example:

  Ieri ho visto Sara e Mauro. Che bella la sua bici!

  Yesterday I met Sara and Mauro. How beautiful is his bike!

  As you see, there’s no issue in English: the bike is Mauro’s, since he’s male. In Italian, however, the bike might be owned by either Mauro or Sara. The phrase la sua bici doesn’t clarify.

  In those cases, di comes to the rescue. For example:

  Ieri ho visto Sara e Mauro. Che bella la nuova bici di lui!

  Yesterday I met Sara and Mauro. How beautiful is his new bike!

  Important

  Whenever di — or any other preposition — is followed by a pronounNo definition set for pronounLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., you need to use a stressed pronoun, as you see in our example: la nuova bici di lui.

There are a few cases where, when di comes before an article, it can become de rather than combining with the article to create articulated forms like del or delle.

You will sometimes see de + definite article instead of an articulated form of di, when the article is an integral part of the name — like part of a city name (L’Aquila, La Spezia), the title of a book (La Divina Commedia), or the title of some other kind of artwork (La Traviata, Il Padrino) — di may not combine with the article but still turns to de.

HOWEVER, in contemporary Italian, di and the definite article often will still combine to form one word, even in cases like those above:

True, this does not make clear that the article is part of the title itself, but this spelling is more consistent with the actual pronunciation (making it easier).

In modern-day Italian, the use of de + definite article is normally perceived as very old fashioned and bureaucratic, at least in speech.

So what should you remember about the possessive with di?

• The possessive construction with di is the equivalent of the English possessive “s” construction.

• When di precedes a definite article, it combines with it to form a single word, called preposizione articolata.

• You might encounter de instead of di (specifically, when di precedes a definite article that is an integral part of the following name), but the de sounds pretty old-fashioned and is normally replaced by an “ordinary” preposizione articolata.

We prepared some activities for you to practice the possessive construction with di. Happy learning!