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Noleggio i pattini perché quelli di mio fratello sono rotti.

Noleggio i pattini perché quelli di mio fratello sono rotti.
I'm renting skates because my brother's are broken.
From Lesson 284:Demonstrative pronouns of possession (quello di, quella di)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Noleggio i pattini perché quelli di mio fratello sono rotti.

Why is it quelli di mio fratello instead of just saying di mio fratello?
In English, we can just say 'my brother's' to mean 'my brother's skates'. In Italian, you cannot leave the noun completely blank like that. Instead, you use a demonstrative pronoun to stand in for the missing noun. Since i pattini (the skates) is masculine plural, we use quelli (those) plus di to mean 'those of' or 'the ones belonging to'.
What exactly does quelli agree with here?
It agrees with the noun it replaces: i pattini (the skates), which is masculine plural. If you were talking about renting a bike (la bici), which is feminine singular, you would say quella di mio fratello.
Why isn't there an article before mio fratello? Shouldn't it be il mio fratello?
Italian normally requires a definite article before a possessive word (like il mio cane). However, the rule changes for singular, close family members. With mio fratello (my brother), you drop the article. If it were plural (i miei fratelli), the article would come back!
Why does rotti end in an 'i'?
Rotti is the past participle of rompere (to break) acting as an adjective. It describes the skates (i pattini), not your brother! Since i pattini is masculine plural, rotti must also be masculine plural to match.

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