dei

This is the 12th most frequent Italian word.


dei

"Dei" is the Italian word for "of the" (masculine plural).


In this sentence, 'dei' functions as a partitive article, equivalent to 'some' in English, indicating an unspecified quantity of books.

Ho comprato dei libri al mercatino.

I bought some books at the market.


Here, 'dei' acts as a contraction of 'di' + 'i', meaning 'of the', used to show possession or association of the colors with the flowers.

I colori dei fiori sono vibranti.

The colors of the flowers are vibrant.


In this instance, 'dei' is used again as a partitive article to mean 'a few', specifying an indeterminate number of days.

Sono restato per dei giorni a casa.

I stayed at home for a few days.