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When talking about ownership or association, repeating the same noun can feel clumsy. In English, we avoid this by using an apostrophe-s: "My skis are new, but Luca's are old."

In Italian, you achieve this by using a demonstrative pronoun based on **quello** (that / the one) followed by the preposition **di** (of). Literally, you are saying "that of Luca" or "the ones of Luca."

### Choosing the Right Form

Because the demonstrative pronoun replaces a noun, it must agree with the gender and number of the noun you are omitting. There are four forms:

- **quello**: masculine singular
- **quella**: feminine singular
- **quelli**: masculine plural
- **quelle**: feminine plural

When replacing a masculine noun, use **quello** or **quelli**:

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When replacing a feminine noun, use **quella** or **quelle**:

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### Combining with Definite Articles

Often, the noun following **di** is a proper name (like Maria or Luca), so **di** remains unchanged. However, if the "owner" or associated noun requires a definite article (like "the beginner" or "the mountain"), the preposition **di** must combine with that article to form an articulated preposition (such as **del**, **della**, or **dei**).

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Demonstrative pronouns of possession (quello di, quella di)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
the ski	lo sci
My skis are new, but Luca's are old.	I miei sci sono nuovi, ma quelli di Luca sono vecchi.
the sled	la slitta
Your sled is fast, but the child's is slow.	La tua slitta è veloce, ma quella del bambino è lenta.
the snowboard	lo snowboard
If we go out, do we take your snowboard or Maria's?	Se usciamo, prendiamo il tuo snowboard o quello di Maria?
the skate	il pattino
I'm renting skates because my brother's are broken.	Noleggio i pattini perché quelli di mio fratello sono rotti.
the slope / track	la pista
the beginner	il principiante
This slope is difficult, but the beginner's is easy.	Questa pista è difficile, ma quella del principiante è facile.
the ski pass	lo skipass
Marco's ski pass costs fifty euros, and Anna's sixty.	Lo skipass di Marco costa cinquanta euro, e quello di Anna sessanta.
My hands are cold, but Marco's are warm.	Le mie mani sono fredde, ma quelle di Marco sono calde.
the mountain cabin	la baita
Our scarves are in the cabin, and Maria's are there.	Le nostre sciarpe sono nella baita, e quelle di Maria sono là.
the cable car	la funivia
The town's cable car is closed, but the mountain's is open.	La funivia del paese è chiusa, ma quella della montagna è aperta.
the chairlift	la seggiovia
Do we take this chairlift or the one for the black slope?	Prendiamo questa seggiovia o quella della pista nera?
I go there with my snowboard, and you with your brother's?	Ci vado con il mio snowboard, e tu con quello di tuo fratello?
Your skates are better than the beginner's.	I tuoi pattini sono migliori di quelli del principiante.
Luca's skis are beautiful, we are trying them out together with Anna's.	Gli sci di Luca sono belli, li stiamo provando insieme a quelli di Anna.
I prefer to buy the ski pass than to rent the weekend one.	Preferisco comprare lo skipass che noleggiare quello del fine settimana.
The men eat in the cabin, and the boys in Anna's.	Gli uomini mangiano nella baita, e i ragazzi in quella di Anna.
The northern chairlift is closed, but the southern one is open.	La seggiovia del nord è chiusa, ma quella del sud è aperta.
Marco's sled is red, but Luca's is blue.	La slitta di Marco è rossa, ma quella di Luca è blu.
Our cable car is fast, but the downtown one is slow.	La nostra funivia è veloce, ma quella del centro è lenta.