Object pronouns · Italian grammar A2

Contents · A2

A1 introduced mi, ti, gli and le with piacere. A2 gives the full table of direct and indirect object pronouns, their position with an infinitive, and the polite form.

Direct and indirect object pronouns: lo, la, gli, le#

Formation

Direct object pronouns replace an object with no preposition; indirect object pronouns replace an object introduced by a. The two sets differ only in the third person.

Person	Direct	Indirect
first person singular	mi	mi
second person singular	ti	ti
third person singular, masculine	lo	gli
third person singular, feminine	la	le
first person plural	ci	ci
second person plural	vi	vi
third person plural, masculine	li	gli
third person plural, feminine	le	gli

Use

The pronoun is placed before the conjugated verb: Lo vedo domani. Lo and la are often elided before a vowel (l'aspetto), but the full form is also correct (lo aspetto); li and le are not elided. With an infinitive, the pronoun is attached to the end of the infinitive, which drops its final -e: vederlo, chiamarla. After a preposition, this is the only possible position: per vederlo. With dovere, potere and volere, the pronoun is either attached to the infinitive or placed before the conjugated verb: Voglio vederlo or Lo voglio vedere. After ecco, the pronoun is attached too: eccomi, eccolo, eccola, eccoli, eccole. In Lo so (I know), lo refers back to the information, which English leaves out. In the plural, the usual indirect pronoun is gli, for men and women alike; loro, placed after the verb, belongs to a more formal register. To address someone politely, La is used as the direct object and Le as the indirect object, often written with a capital; La ringrazio is said to a man or to a woman.

The following verbs take an indirect object, introduced by a: telefonare, chiedere, rispondere, scrivere, dare, mandare, regalare. The following verbs take a direct object: chiamare, aiutare, ascoltare, aspettare, invitare, vedere.

Marco? Lo chiamo stasera.Marco? I’ll call him tonight.
Le chiavi? Le cerco da un'ora!The keys? I’ve been looking for them for an hour!
Mia madre è sola stasera, le telefono dopo cena.My mother is on her own tonight, I’ll phone her after dinner.
I miei genitori? Gli scrivo una lettera.My parents? I’m writing them a letter.
Non posso aiutarti oggi.I can’t help you today.
Dov'è il cane? — Eccolo!Where’s the dog? — Here he is!
Signora, La aspetto all'ingresso.I’ll wait for you at the entrance, madam.

Difference from English

The object pronoun comes before the conjugated verb, where English puts it after: “I see him” is lo vedo, “I’m phoning her” is le telefono. English “him” and “her” each have two Italian forms: lo and la as direct objects, gli and le as indirect objects (“to him”, “to her”). Le therefore means “to her” or “them” (feminine, direct object): le telefono (I’m phoning her), le vedo (I can see them). Some verbs do not take the same kind of object as in English: telefonare a takes an indirect object (“phone her” is le telefono), while aspettare (“wait for”), ascoltare (“listen to”) and cercare (“look for”) take a direct object, with no preposition: lo aspetto.

Common mistakes

~~La telefono domani.~~ → Le telefono domani.Telefonare takes an indirect object: for a woman, the pronoun is le.
~~Gli aspetto alla stazione.~~ → Lo aspetto alla stazione.Aspettare takes a direct object: the pronoun is lo.
~~Voglio lo vedere.~~ → Voglio vederlo.The pronoun is attached to the infinitive, or placed before the modal verb: Lo voglio vedere.

→ See also: To like: mi piace, mi piacciono (A1)

In short

Point	Formation	Example
direct, third person	lo, la, li, le	Lo vedo. Le compro.
indirect, third person	gli (masc.), le (fem.), gli (pl.)	Gli scrivo. Le telefono.
first and second persons	mi, ti, ci, vi	Mi aiuti?
elision	l' before a vowel; not with li, le	L'aspetto.
with an infinitive	pronoun attached	per vederlo
modal verb	pronoun attached or before the modal	Voglio vederlo = Lo voglio vedere
ecco	pronoun attached	eccolo, eccole
polite form	La (direct), Le (indirect)	La ringrazio. Le telefono.

Practise

“Object pronouns: lo, la, gli, le”, It, them: lo, la, li, le “Object pronouns: lo, la, gli, le”, Me, you, us: mi, ti, ci, vi, eccomi “Object pronouns: lo, la, gli, le”, The indirect object: gli, le, ci, vi

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