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### Purpose and Necessity with "da"

To express the purpose, function, or necessity of an object, Italian uses the preposition **da** followed by an infinitive verb. This structure usually translates to English as "to [verb]" or "for [verb]ing".

You will frequently see this pattern immediately following a noun to describe what that noun is meant for.

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### With Indefinite Pronouns

This construction is also very common after indefinite words like **qualcosa** (something), **niente** (nothing), **molto** (a lot), and **tanto** (many).

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### Expressing What Needs to Be Done

Often, **da** + infinitive expresses that an action *needs* to be performed on an object. In English, this usually sounds passive ("to be restored", "to be thrown out"), but Italian simply uses the active infinitive.

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This pattern is even used to describe traits like whether a price can be haggled over:

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Preposition da with infinitives (da fare, da bere)

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 object, the item	l'oggetto
to (purpose/necessity after a noun)	da
On this table there are many objects to see.	Su questo tavolo ci sono molti oggetti da vedere.
Yesterday I liked those objects to fix up.	Ieri mi sono piaciuti quegli oggetti da sistemare.
interesting	interessante
I found an interesting book to read.	Ho trovato un libro interessante da leggere.
I haven't found anything interesting to buy yet.	Non ho ancora trovato niente di interessante da comprare.
the stall	la bancarella
the stuff, the things (informal)	la roba
That stall always has something to sell.	Quella bancarella ha sempre qualcosa da vendere.
At that stall I had a lot to look at.	A quella bancarella avevo molto da guardare.
used, second-hand	usato
I am looking for a used coat to wear in winter.	Cerco un cappotto usato da mettere in inverno.
This used watch has many pieces to repair.	Questo orologio usato ha molti pezzi da riparare.
At the market there are many things to discover.	Al mercato ci sono tante cose da scoprire.
He had many pieces of furniture to sell.	Aveva molti mobili da vendere.
rare	raro
This is a rare vase to find.	Questo è un vaso raro da trovare.
I haven't yet bought this rare painting to give as a gift.	Non ho ancora comprato questo quadro raro da regalare.
to restore	restaurare
Do you have a piece of furniture to restore?	Hai un mobile da restaurare?
I liked those old pieces of furniture to restore.	Mi sono piaciuti quei vecchi mobili da restaurare.
to throw away	buttare
That broken chair is to be thrown out.	Quella sedia rotta è da buttare.
I had many old clothes to give away.	Avevo molti vestiti vecchi da regalare.
the value	il valore
Is there any valuable object to sell?	C'è qualche oggetto di valore da vendere?
I have a valuable painting to show.	Ho un quadro di valore da mostrare.
to negotiate, to haggle	trattare
The price of this coat is negotiable.	Il prezzo di questo cappotto è da trattare.
Did you have something to negotiate with the customer?	Avevi qualcosa da trattare con il cliente?
the bargain, the deal	l'affare
It is not an object to throw away, but a real bargain.	Non è un oggetto da buttare, ma un vero affare.
I am looking for an excellent bargain to buy at the stall.	Cerco un ottimo affare da comprare alla bancarella.
The stall is full of old, second-hand stuff.	La bancarella è piena di roba vecchia e usata.
How much stuff there is in the attic!	Quanta roba c'è in soffitta!

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