Hi guys, today we will look at the difference between direct and indirect object pronouns. These are two issues that have been giving my students hell in Italian for as long as I started teaching.



Let's start with direct object pronouns.



Direct Object Pronouns



First we need to understand what a direct object is. A direct object is the direct recipient of the action of a verb.



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 the direct objects in these cases. They answer the questions What? or Whom?



Verbs that take a direct object are called transitive verbs.

Verbs that do not take a direct object (she walks, I sleep) are intransitive verbs.



Direct objects can be replaced by direct object pronouns to make conversation more fluid and smooth.



For example:



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



Them and it are two English direct object pronouns.



Now let's apply this grammar rule to Italian.



You can see the form of the direct object pronouns in the picture below.



Some examples:



  • Io leggo un libro. I read a book.
  • Io lo leggo. I read it.
  • Tu ami Maria. You love Maria.
  • Tu la ami. You love her.
  • Maria compra i vestiti. Maria buys clothes.
  • Maria li compra. Maria buys them.
  • Paolo mangia le mele. Paolo eats apples.
  • Paolo le mangia. Paolo eats them.



And now, a few grammar rules about their position in the sentence:



Rule 1: 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.



Rule 2: The only exception to this rule is when a sentence contains a verb in the infinitive form. In this case, the object pronoun is attached to the end (note that the final -e of the infinitive is dropped):



È importante mangiarla ogni giorno. It is important to eat it every day.



So we have the verb mangiare, we drop the final –e and attach the direct object pronoun la to create mangiarla.



È una buon'idea invitarli. It's a good idea to invite them.



From the the verb invitare, we drop the final –e, attach the direct object pronoun li and we have invitarli.



Rule 3: 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?



Rule 4: 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).



  • Cosa cerchi? What are you looking for?
  • Cerco la matita. I'm looking for the pencil.
  • La cerco da un'ora! I've been looking for it for an hour!



Rule 5: 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 Maria? Eccola! Where is Maria? Here she is!
  • Hai trovato le chiavi? Sì, eccole! Have you found the keys? Yes, here they are!



Indirect Object Pronouns



Now let's have a look at the indirect object pronouns. They answer the questions, A chi? A che cosa? (To whom? To what?)



For example:



  • Io parlo. I talk.
  • A chi parli? To whom are you talking?
  • Parlo a Mario. Gli parlo. I'm talking to Mario. I'm talking to him.



Regarding the third person plural: gli is used far more often, but loro is grammatically correct.



And now, a few grammar rules about their position in the sentence:



Rule 1: Indirect object pronouns precede the verb, except for loro, which follows the verb.



For example:



  • Gli parlo. I talk to him.
  • Le parlo. I talk to her.
  • Parliamo loro domani. We'll talk to them tomorrow.



Rule 2: The only exception to this rule is when a sentence contains a verb in the infinitive form. In this case, the object pronoun is attached to the end of it (note that the final -e of the infinitive is dropped):



For example:



Vado a parlargli. I'm going to talk to him.



Rule 3: If the verbs dovere (must/to have to), potere (may/can), or volere (to want/to wish) precede the infinitive of another verb, then either of the following two cases may occur:

  • the pronoun may precede the form of dovere, potere, volere

Ex: Gli devo parlare. I have to talk to him.

  • the pronoun may be attached to the end of the infinitive

Ex: Devo parlargli, I have to talk to him.



From the the verb parlare, drop the final –e, attach the direct object pronoun gli and we have parlargli.


Rule 4: In a negative sentence, the word non must come before the object pronoun.



For example:



Non gli parlo. I don't talk to him.



I know, a lot of information! Let's summarize the key points.



Summary



Direct object pronouns:



They answer the questions what? and whom? They replace the nouns that answer those two questions to make conversation more fluid and smooth.



Indirect object pronouns:



They answer the questions to what? and to whom? They replace the nouns that answer those two questions to make conversation more fluid and smooth.



Notice that direct and indirect object pronouns have the same form for the first and second person (both singular and plural).



The differences between i pronomi diretti and i pronomi indiretti are in the third singular person:



Direct object pronoun logli Indirect object pronoun (masculine)

Direct object pronoun lale Indirect object pronoun (feminine)



And in the third plural person:



Direct object pronouns li (masculine) le (feminine) become indirect object pronouns gli/loro (both masculine and feminine).



Don't be concerned if you are still confused or if you haven't quite grasped the concept yet. If you practice and read the explanation again and again, you will get the concept eventually!



In the comments below, ask me any questions about these two topics that were unclear to you.



All images by the author.