However, if ne is not attached to the infinitive, the past participle must agree,
in the same way as in the rules given in paragraphs 5–7:
9 Another use of ne is is to replace a noun (or a pronoun) preceded by the
preposition di (as in Parliamo del libro di Primo Levi, ‘We’re talking about
Primo Levi’s book’):
When ne is used in this way, the past participle does not agreee:
‘Quanti libri hai letto?’ ‘Ho dovuto
leggerne tre.’
C’erano molti esercizi, ma ho potuto
farne solo alcuni.
Il compito era difficile e ho saputo
farne solo una parte.‘How many books did you read?’ ‘I
had to read three.’
There were a lot of exercises, but I
could only do a few.
The homework was difficult, and I
could only do part of it.‘Quanti libri hai letto?’ ‘Ne ho dovuti
leggere tre.’
C’erano molti esercizi, ma ne ho
potuti fare solo alcuni.
Gli esercizi erano difficili e ne ho
saputa fare solo una parte [fs].
Gli esercizi [mp] erano difficili e ne
ho saputi fare solo una parte. ‘How many books did you read?’ ‘I
had to read three.’
There were a lot of exercises, but I
could only do a few.The exercises were difficult, and I
could only do part of them.Conosco questo film: ieri ne
parlavano alla radio.
È un libro di successo: tutti ne
parlano.
Hai visto lo spettacolo? Che ne
pensi?
Ha molti problemi, ma non ne
parla mai.I know this film: they were talking
about it on the radio yesterday.
It’s a popular book: everybody’s
talking about it.
Did you see the show? What do you
think of it?
He has a lot of problems, but he
never talks about them.Marco aveva dei problemi e ne ha
parlato con Anna.
Questi sono libri di successo e tutti
ne hanno parlato.Marco had problems, and talked
about them with Anna.
These are popular books and
everybody’s been talking about
them.