dello

Dello is the contracted form of di and the masculine singular definite article lo in Italian. It is used before masculine singular nouns that take lo as the definite article, forming the combination di + lo → dello. Dello is one member of the di- contractions, which also include del, dell’, della, dei, delle, and degli.

Usage and rules: The contraction dello occurs only when the following noun is masculine singular and requires lo. It does not apply to feminine nouns (which use della) or to plural forms (which use dei, delle, degli). When the noun starts with a vowel, the appropriate form is dell’ (di + l’). These contractions help streamline possession, origin, or association phrases in Italian, such as indicating ownership or relation between elements.

Examples:

- Il libro dello studente = the student’s book.

- La tasca dello zaino = the pocket of the backpack.

- Parlo dello zio = I am talking about the uncle.

These illustrate how dello is used to link a noun with another noun or phrase introduced by di.

Notes: Dello is primarily a written and spoken Italian feature of standard grammar. It remains distinct from other di- contractions and is not interchangeable with di + il (del) or di + la (della) except where the gender and article require those forms. In summary, dello marks a masculine singular noun that takes lo as its definite article after di.