Breakdown of I tuoi pattini sono migliori di quelli del principiante.
essere
to be
quello
that
tuo
your
di
than
del
of the; than the (di + il)
migliore
better/best
il pattino
the skate
il principiante
the beginner
Questions & Answers about I tuoi pattini sono migliori di quelli del principiante.
How does the phrase quelli del principiante work to mean "the beginner's"?
English uses the apostrophe-'s to show possession without repeating the noun (like "the beginner's"). Italian doesn't have an equivalent, so it uses a demonstrative pronoun (quelli, meaning "those") plus di ("of"). Literally, this sentence says your skates are better than "those of the beginner".
Why is the pronoun quelli used here instead of quello or quelle?
The demonstrative pronoun has to match the gender and number of the noun it replaces. Since it replaces pattini (skates), which is a masculine plural noun, you must use the masculine plural form quelli.
Why do we use migliori here instead of meglio?
Migliore is an adjective meaning "better" (the comparative form of buono / "good"), so it describes nouns like pattini. Meglio is an adverb (the comparative form of bene / "well"), which describes verbs, like how well someone skates. Since pattini is plural, the adjective changes from migliore to migliori.
Why are there two forms of "di" (di and del) so close to each other in ...migliori di quelli del...?
They serve two completely different grammatical purposes here. The first one (di) means "than" and completes the comparison: migliori di ("better than"). The second one (del) is the combined preposition di + il meaning "of the" to show possession: quelli del principiante ("those of the beginner").
Is principiante a masculine or feminine noun?
The word principiante (beginner) ends in -e and can be either masculine or feminine. You can tell the gender of the beginner in this sentence by looking at the combined preposition del (di + il). Since it uses il (the masculine singular "the"), we know this specific beginner is male. For a female beginner, it would be della principiante.
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