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Non abbiamo aggiunto alcune fragranze sintetiche, solo un estratto naturale.

Non abbiamo aggiunto alcune fragranze sintetiche, solo un estratto naturale.
We did not add any synthetic fragrances, only a natural extract.
From Lesson 372:Negative indefinite adjectives (alcuno)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Non abbiamo aggiunto alcune fragranze sintetiche, solo un estratto naturale.

Why use alcune instead of nessune here to mean any?
Nessuno (and its feminine form nessuna) is strictly singular in Italian. Because fragranze is a plural noun, the word nessune does not technically exist. Instead, we must use the plural forms of alcuno—in this case, the feminine plural alcune—to mean any in a negative sentence.
Doesn't alcune usually mean some?
Yes, in an affirmative sentence, alcune fragranze means some fragrances. However, when paired with a negative verb (like non abbiamo), it acts as a negative indefinite and translates to not... any.
Could I have written this sentence using a form of nessuno instead?
Yes, but you would have to make the noun singular: Non abbiamo aggiunto nessuna fragranza sintetica. Both versions mean the same thing, but using alcune allows you to keep the noun in the plural if that feels more natural for the context.
Since fragranze is feminine plural, shouldn't the past participle be aggiunte?
No, because the auxiliary verb is avere (abbiamo). In the passato prossimo with avere, the past participle (aggiunto) defaults to the masculine singular and does not agree with the noun that follows it. It would only change to aggiunte if you used a direct object pronoun (like le) before the verb.

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