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Italian Direct Object Pronouns

Transitive verbs take direct objects—which can be direct object pronouns (i pronomi diretti). These pronouns are the person or thing affected by the action of the transitive verb and answer the question what? or whom? For example:

She invites the girls. Whom does she invite? The girls. I read the book. What do I read? The book.

The nouns "girls" and "book" are direct objects. Direct object pronouns replace direct object nouns:

She invites the girls. She invites them. I read the book. I read it.

The forms of the Italian direct object pronouns appear in the following table.

ITALIAN DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS

PERSON SINGULAR	PLURAL
I	mi (me)	ci (us)
II	ti (you, informal)	vi (you, informal)
III	lo, la (him, her, it) li, le (them, masculine/feminine)
	La (you, formal)	Li, Le (you, formal, masculine/feminine)

In Italian, a direct object pronoun is placed immediately before a conjugated verb:

Se vediamo i ragazzi, li invitiamo. (If we see the boys, we'll invite them.) Compra la frutta e la mangia. (He buys the fruit and eats it.)

The only exception to that is when a sentence contains an infinitive. In this case, the object pronoun is attached to the end of it (note that the final -e of the infinitive is dropped):

È importante mangiarla ogni giorno. (It is important to eat it every day.) È una buon'idea invitarli. (It's a good idea to invite them.)

In a negative sentence, the word non must come before the object pronoun:

Non la mangiano. (They don't eat it.) Perché non li inviti? (Why don't you invite them?)

It is possible (but not necessary) to omit singular direct-object pronouns in front of verbs that begin with a vowel or forms of avere that begin with an h. However, the plural forms li and le are never omitted:

M'ama, non m'ama. Mi ama, non mi ama. (He loves me, he loves me not.) Il passaporto? Loro non l'hanno lo hanno. (The passport? They don't have it.)

A few Italian verbs that take a direct object, such as ascoltare, aspettare, cercare, and guardare, correspond to English verbs that are used with prepositions (to listen to, to wait for, to look for, to look at). Compare the following:

Chi cerchi? (Who are you looking for?) Cerco il mio ragazzo. (I'm looking for my boyfriend.) Lo cerco già da mezz'ora! (I've been looking for him for half an hour!)

Object pronouns are attached to ecco (here) to express the phrases "here I am," "here you are," "here he is," and so on:

Dov'è la signorina? Eccola! (Where is the young woman? Here she is!) Hai trovato le chiavi? Sì, eccole! (Have you found the keys? Yes, here they are!)

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Italian Indirect Object Pronouns

ndirect object nouns and pronouns (i pronomi indiretti) answer the question to whom? or for whom? In English, the word "to" is sometimes omitted:

We gave a cookbook to Uncle John.
We gave Uncle John a cookbook.


In Italian, the preposition a is always used before an indirect object noun:

Ho regalato un libro di cucina allo zio Giovanni. (I gave a cookbook to Uncle John.)
Perché non regali un profumo alla mamma? (Why don't you give Mother some perfume?)
Puoi spiegare questa ricetta a Paolo? (Can you explain this recipe to Paul?)


Indirect object pronouns replace indirect object nouns. They are identical in form to direct object pronouns, except for the third-person forms gli, le, and loro. For all the forms, see below.

ITALIAN INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS

PERSON	SINGULAR	PLURAL
I	mi (to/for me)	ci (to/for us)
II	ti (to/for you, informal)	vi (to/for you, informal)
III	gli, le (to, for him/her)	loro (to/for them, masculine/feminine)
	Le (to/for you, formal)	Loro (to/for you, formal, masculine/feminine)

All indirect object pronouns except loro and Loro precede a conjugated verb, just like the direct object pronouns (loro and Loro follow the verb):

Le ho dato tre ricette. (I gave her three recipes.) Ci offrono un caffè. (They offer us a cup of coffee.) Parliamo loro domani. (We'll talk to them tomorrow.)

Similarly, indirect object pronouns attach to infinitives, which lose their final -e:

Non ho tempo di parlargli. (I have no time to talk to him.)

If the infinitive is preceded by a conjugated form of dovere, potere, or volere, the indirect object pronoun may also precede the conjugated verb:

Voglio parlargli./Gli voglio parlare. (I want to talk to him.)

Also note that le and gli are never elided before a verb beginning with a vowel or an h:

Le offro un caffè. (I offer her a cup of coffee.) Gli hanno detto "Ciao!". (They said "Ciao!" to him.)

The table below provides a few common Italian verbs that are often used with indirect object nouns or pronouns.

VERBS THAT TAKE ON INDIRECT OBJECTS

dare|| to give
dire	to say
domandare	to ask
(im)prestare	to lend
insegnare	to teach
mandare	to send
mostrare	to show
offrire	to offer
portare	to bring
preparare	to prepare
regalare	to give (as a gift)
rendere	to return, give back
riportare	to bring back
scrivere	to write
telefonare	to telephone