Breakdown of La miscela non contiene alcuni estratti di muschio o vaniglia.
non
not
o
or
di
of, from
alcuno
any (in negative contexts)
Questions & Answers about La miscela non contiene alcuni estratti di muschio o vaniglia.
Why do we use alcuni here for "any" instead of a plural form of nessuno?
Is it more common to use plural alcuni or singular nessun in negative sentences like this?
Actually, it is much more common in Italian to use the singular. Most native speakers would naturally say La miscela non contiene nessun estratto (The blend does not contain any extract). Using the plural alcuni estratti is grammatically correct and good to know for reading and stylistic variation, but the singular form is the everyday standard.
If alcuni usually means "some", how does it mean "any" here?
The trick is the word non before the verb. While alcuni by itself in an affirmative sentence means "some" or "a few", pairing it with a negative verb transforms its meaning to "any" (as in "not any"). Keep in mind that alcuno always needs another negative word like non, senza, or mai in the sentence to carry a negative meaning.
Why does the sentence use di muschio instead of del muschio?