Question 1

Why is the comparative expressed with meno… di (occupare meno spazio di) instead of meno… che or another structure?

Accepted Answer

In Italian, comparatives of inequality before nouns or adjectives use meno… di (or più… di) to mean “less/more … than.” The form meno… che is virtually never used in standard comparisons of this kind. You’ll see che in other fixed expressions (e.g. “Meno che mai”) or in comparisons involving verbs (e.g. “Non parlava che di sé”), but for comparing quantities or qualities you stick with di.

Question 2

What is the function of del in del tavolo rotondo?

Accepted Answer

Del is the contraction of di + il. Here di marks the “than” in the comparison (“less space than the round table”) and il is the definite article for tavolo. So del tavolo rotondo literally means “of the round table,” i.e. “than the round table.”

Question 3

Why do the adjectives quadrato and rotondo come after the noun, not before?

Accepted Answer

In Italian, descriptive adjectives typically follow the noun they modify: tavolo quadrato, tavolo rotondo. Placing them after the noun is the default for neutral descriptions. Only certain adjectives (e.g. numerals, demonstratives, or for stylistic/emphatic effect) routinely precede the noun.

Question 4

What is occupa and how does it relate to the infinitive?

Accepted Answer

Occupa is the third-person singular present indicative of the transitive verb occupare, which means “to occupy.” Since tavolo quadrato is singular, you use occupa (“it occupies”). If you wanted first-person you’d say occuo, second-person occupi, third-person plural occupano, and so on.

Question 5

Why is spazio singular here? Aren’t we talking about an amount that could be counted?

Accepted Answer

Spazio is used as a mass (uncountable) noun meaning “space” in general, not individual units. When talking about how much area something takes up, Italian uses the singular: meno spazio (“less space”), just as in English you’d say “less space,” not “fewer spaces.”

Question 6

Could we say dello tavolo rotondo instead of del tavolo rotondo?

Accepted Answer

No. You only use dello for di + lo, when the noun’s definite article is lo (used before s+consonant, z-words, etc.). Since tavolo takes il (“il tavolo”), di + il contracts to del, not dello.

Question 7

How would you invert the idea, saying “The round table occupies more space than the square one”?

Accepted Answer

You can simply swap the roles and change meno to più:  
Il tavolo rotondo occupa più spazio del tavolo quadrato.  
Or, to avoid repeating tavolo quadrato, you can use quello:  
Il tavolo rotondo occupa più spazio di quello quadrato.

Question 8

Is there a way to avoid repeating tavolo after the comparison?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Replace the second tavolo with the demonstrative pronoun quello (“the one”/“that one”):  
Il tavolo quadrato occupa meno spazio di quello rotondo.  
Here di quello rotondo means “than the round one (table).”

Il tavolo quadrato occupa meno spazio del tavolo rotondo.

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