The partitive pronoun ne is used to talk about a quantity or portion of something previously mentioned, often translating to "some" or "of them." When describing that portion (like saying, "I saw some beautiful ones" in English), Italian requires a specific structure.
Describing a portion: ne + di + adjective
To describe the qualities of the items replaced by ne, insert the preposition di right before the adjective.
The formula is: ne + verb + di + plural adjective.
| I saw some ridiculous ones. | Ne ho visti di ridicoli. |
| We bought some discounted ones. | Ne abbiamo comprati di scontati. |
Think of this structurally as saying, "Of them, I saw of ridiculous [ones]."
Agreement in the Passato Prossimo
When you use ne with compound tenses like the passato prossimo, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the noun ne replaces. The adjective following di will also match this gender and number.
| I don't watch his movies anymore, because recently I have seen some awful and predictable ones. | Non guardo più i suoi film, perché recentemente ne ho visti di orrendi e scontati. |
| I tasted many desserts; I ate some delicious ones, but also some awful ones. | Ho assaggiato molti dolci; ne ho mangiati di squisiti, ma anche di orrendi. |
In the examples above, film and dolci are both masculine plural nouns, so the past participles (visti, mangiati) and the adjectives (orrendi, squisiti) all take masculine plural endings.
"There are some..." (Ce ne)
This structure is frequently paired with the verb esserci (to be there) to point out that "there are some [adjective] ones" available. When the pronoun ci (there) is followed by ne, it changes to ce ne.
| The exhibitions in this city are fantastic; I go there often, because there are some unmissable ones. | Le mostre in questa città sono fantastiche; ci vado spesso, perché ce ne sono di imperdibili. |
| If I had the money, I would buy other home appliances, because there are some innovative ones. | Se avessi i soldi, comprerei altri elettrodomestici, perché ce ne sono di innovativi. |