Category: basic elements

The Italian pronouns are the elements of the sentence that indicate or replace the person, the animal or the object, that is doing an action, or receiving an action, without specifying (or repeating) his/her/its name or noun. 

SUBJECT PRONOUNS 

These pronouns indicate who is the subject of a sentence.

In a very formal use of the language, (especially in writing), the pronouns “egli” (he), “ella” (she), replace “lui” and “lei”. Rarely used, “esso” (it, m. sing), “essa” (it, f. sing), “essi” (they, m. pl.), “esse” (they f. pl) refer to animals or inanimate objects (“essi/esse” also to people). 

To indicate inanimate objects, Italians commonly repeat the name of the object, or use “questo/a, questi/e” (this, these) instead of “esso/a, essi/e”. 

Person	Singular		Plural
1st	io	I	noi	we
2nd	tu	you	voi	you
3rd	lui	he	loro	they
	lei	she
	Lei	you (formal)

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS 

Reflexive pronouns are used when the action of the verb falls back on the subject of the verb. 

They usually precede the verb: “mi lavo…” (I wash myself), unless the verb is in the infinitive form, in which case the pronoun is attached to the ending of the verb dropping the final “e” of the verb: “vado a lavarmi” (I go to wash myself.) With the forms “gerundio”, past participle and imperative, the pronouns are attached to the ending of the verb: “lavandomi, lavatosi, lavati” (washing myself, having washed himself, wash yourself!)

If the verbs “dovere, potere, volere” precede the infinitive of another verb, the pronoun may precede the form of “dovere, potere, volere” or may be attached to the ending of the infinitive:”mi devo lavare” or “devo lavarmi” (I have to wash myself.) 

In a negative sentence the pronoun remains in front of the verb: “non mi lavo” (I don’t wash myself.)With compound tenses the pronoun remains in front of the verb: “mi sono lavato” (I have washed myself.) 

Person	Singular		Plural
1st	mi	myself	ci	ourselves
2nd	ti	yourself	vi	yourselves
3rd	si	himself	si	themselves
	si	herself
	si	yourself (formal)

DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS 

These pronouns answer the questions “Chi? che cosa?” (whom? what?)” 

-“Guardo la televisione” (I watch TV) 

-“Cosa guardi?” (What do you watch?) 

-“Guardo la televisione. La guardo.” (I watch TV. I watch it.)

Direct object pronouns precede the verb “la guardo” (I watch it), unless the verb is in the infinitive form, in which case the pronoun is attached to the ending of the verb dropping the final “e” of the verb: “vado a guardarla” (I go to watch it.) With the forms “gerundio”, past participle and imperative, the pronouns are attached to the ending of the verb: “guardandola, guardatala, guardala!” (watching it, having watched it, watch it!) 

If the verbs “dovere, potere, volere” precede the infinitive of another verb, the pronoun may precede the form of “dovere, potere, volere” or may be attached to the ending of the infinitive: “la devo guardare” or “devo guardarla” (I have to watch it.) 

In a negative sentence the pronoun remains in front of the verb: “non la guardo” (I don’t watch it.) 

With compound tenses the pronoun remains in front of the verb: “L‘ho guardata” (I watched it.) Remember that “lo” and “la” drop the vowel and take the apostrophe in front of the conjugated forms of “avere”. 

Please note: the past participle agrees with the object replaced by the direct object pronoun: “l‘ho vista” (I saw her), “l‘ho visto” (I saw him)…

Person	Singular		Plural
1st	mi	me	ci	us
2nd	ti	you	vi	you
3rd	lo	him	li	them (masculine)
	la	her	le	them (feminine)
	La	you (formal)

INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS 

These pronouns answer the questions “A chi? A che cosa?” (to whom? to what?)” 

-“Io parlo” (I talk) 

-“A chi parli?” (To whom are you talking?) 

-“Parlo a Mario. Gli parlo.” (I talk to Mario. I talk to him.) 

Indirect object pronouns precede the verb, “gli parlo” (I talk to him), unless the verb is in the infinitive form, in which case the pronoun is attached to the ending of the verb dropping the final “e” of the verb: “vado a parlargli” (I’m going to talk to him.) 

With the forms “gerundio”, past participle and imperative, the pronouns are attached to the ending of the verb: “parlandogli, parlatogli, parlagli!” (talking to him, having talked to him, talk to him!) 

If the verbs “dovere, potere, volere” precede the infinitive of another verb, the pronoun may precede the form of “dovere, potere, volere” or may be attached to the ending of the infinitive: “gli devo parlare” or “devo parlargli” (I have to talk to him.) 

In a negative sentence the pronoun remains in front of the verb: “non gli parlo” (I don’t talk to him.)

With compound tenses the pronoun remains in front of the verb. 

Please note: with compound tenses the verb never agrees with the indirect pronoun: “gli ho parlato” (I talked to him), “le ho parlato” (I talked to her.)

In formal writing the pronoun “loro” is preferred to the plural pronoun “gli” (to them.) “Parlo loro” (I talk to them) instead of “gli parlo”. Notice that “loro” follows the verb.

Person	Singular		Plural
1st	mi	to me	ci	to us
2nd	ti	to you	vi	to you
3rd	gli	to him	gli	to them (masculine)
	le	to her	gli	to them (feminine)
	Le	to you (formal)

PRONOUNS “NE” and “CI”

“Ne” and “ci” are pronominal particles. 

“Ne” replaces “di questo/a/i/e, un po’ di, alcuni/e, di ciò…” (of it, of them, some of it, any, about this…) or an entire sentence. 

“Ci” replaces “là, lì, qui, qua” (there, here) or a previously mentioned place.

They follow the rules of the other pronouns:

*They precede the verb, “ne prendo” (I take some of it), “ci vado” (I go there), unless the verb is in the infinitive form, in which case the pronoun is attached to the ending of the verb dropping the final “e” of the verb: “vado a prenderne” (I’m going to take some of it),”voglio andarci” (I want to go there.) With the forms “gerundio”, past participle and imperative, the pronouns are attached to the ending of the verb: parlandone, parlatone, parlane!” (talking about that, having talked about that, talk about that!) 

*If the verbs “dovere, potere, volere” precede the infinitive of another verb, the pronoun may precede the form of “dovere, potere, volere” or may be attached to the ending of the infinitive: “ne devo prendere” or “devo prenderne” (I have to take some of it); “ci devo andare” or “devo andarci” (I have to go there.) 

*In a negative sentence the pronoun remains right in front of the verb: “non ne prendo”, “non ci vado” (I don’t take any of it; I don’t go there.) 

*With compound tenses the pronoun remains in front of the verb. Please note: with compound tenses the past participle agrees with the object replaced by ne: “ne ho prese due” (di mele ) (I took two apples); “ne ho presi due” (di libri) (I took two books.) 

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

Relative pronouns substitute a noun and create a ‘relation’ between two sentences:

“Abbiamo conosciuto delle persone che sono molto simpatiche”. (We have met some people who are very nice). 

The pronouns “che”, “cui”, “il quale, la quale, i quali, le quali” (who, which, whom, that) are relative pronouns. 

►”che” is the most used relative pronoun, but it cannot be used after a preposition: 

• “L’amica che arriva si chiama Roberta.” (The friend who is arriving is called Roberta.) 
• “Il libro che leggo è interessante.” (The book that I read is interesting. The book I’m reading is interesting.) 

►”Cui” is used after a preposition: 

• “L’amica a cui scrivo si chiama Roberta.” (the friend to whom I’m writing is called Roberta.) 
• “La penna con cui scrivo non funziona bene.” (The pen with which I’m writing doesn’t work well.) 

►”il quale, la quale, i quali, le quali” may replace “che” or “cui”. They are used, especially in writing, to create emphasis or to be more specific: 

1. “L’amica alla quale scrivo si chiama Roberta.” (The friend to whom I’m writing is called Roberta.) 
2. “La penna con la quale scrivo non funziona bene.” (The pen with which I’m writing doesn’t work well.) 
3. “Il documento, il quale è stato firmato da voi, è stato spedito ieri.” (The document, which has been signed by you, was delivered yesterday.) 
4. L’amica di Roberto, il quale è ospite da me, è simpatica. (The friend of Roberto, who is living with me, is very nice. In this case “il quale” specifies that Roberto is the one living with me.) 
5. L’amica di Roberto, la quale è ospite da me, è simpatica. (The friend of Roberto, who is living with me, is very nice. In this case “la quale” specifies that the friend is the one living with me.) 

Please note: in Italian there are other uses of “che”. In order to know if “che” is a relative pronoun, you can substitute it with “il quale, la quale…”. Otherwise it may be one of the following:

• Interrogative adjective: Che libro porto a scuola oggi? (Which book do I bring to school today?) 

• Interrogative pronoun: Che vuoi? (What do you want?) 
• Exclamatory adjective: Che macchina! (What a car!) 
• Exclamatory pronoun: Che devo sentire! (What do I have to listen to!) 
• Comparative: È più bello mangiare che studiare! (Eating is better than studying.) 
• As a conjunction: Lui ha detto che torna domani. (He said that he is coming back tomorrow.) 

“La ragazza che ho conosciuto ieri è simpatica.” (The girl whom I met yesterday is nice.) 

“Ho trovato chi farà il lavoro”. (I found the person who will do the job.) 

“Chi” is a mixed relative pronoun (indefinite or interrogative):

• Interrogative: “Chi viene a cena?”
• Indefinite: “Chi mi ama mi segua!”

COMPLEMENTO DI SPECIFICAZIONE

The definite article, “il, la, i, le”, + “cui” + noun, forms the “complemento di specificazione” (whose.) The article must agree in gender and number with the noun that follows “cui”:

►Alberto, la cui sorella hai conosciuto ieri, è partito per gli Stati Uniti. (Alberto, whose sister you met yesterday, left for the United States.) 

►Alberto, il cui fratello hai conosciuto ieri, è partito per gli Stati Uniti. (Alberto, whose brother you met yesterday, left for the United States.)  

PERSONAL OBJECT PRONOUNS – STRONG 

These pronouns are called “strong” because they create emphasis in the sentence. 

They are used only after a preposition or a verb:

• “Vieni con me” (come with me) 
• “Lui pensa solo a sé” 
• “Voglio chiamare te
• Compare: 
• Il direttore mi ha invitato a cena. (The director invited me for dinner). 
• Il direttore ha invitato me a cena. (The director invited me, just me, for dinner!) 

Person	Singular		Plural
1st	me	me	noi	us
2nd	te	you	voi	you
3rd	lui, sé	him, himself,	loro, sé	them, themself (masculine)
	lei, sé	her, herself	loro, sé	them, themself (feminine)
	Lei	you (formal)

DOUBLE OBJECT PRONOUNS 

The indirect object pronouns combined with the direct object pronouns form the double object pronouns. 

Double pronouns avoid repetitions and create a certain emphasis and ‘speed’ in the sentence. 

• “Mando una lettera a lui. Gliela mando.” (I send a letter to him. I send it to him.) 

Indirect Object Pronoun	+	Direct Object Pronoun	=	Double Object Pronouns
mi	+	lo, la, li, le, ne	=	me lo, me la, me li, me le, me ne
ti	+	lo, la, li, le, ne	=	te lo, te la, te li, te le, te ne
gli	+	lo, la, li, le, ne	=	glielo, gliela, glieli, gliele, gliene
le, Le	+	lo, la, li, le, ne	=	glielo, gliela, glieli, gliele, gliene
ci	+	lo, la, li, le, ne	=	ce lo, ce la, ce li, ce le, ce ne
vi	+	lo, la, li, le, ne	=	ve lo, ve la, ve li, ve le, ve ne
gli	+	lo, la, li, le, ne	=	glielo, gliela, glieli, gliele, gliene
si	+	lo, la, li, le, ne	=	se lo, se la, se li, se le, se ne

The position of the double object pronouns in the sentence follows the rules of the other pronouns: 

• Double object pronouns precede the verb, “gliene parlo” (I talk to him about that), unless the verb is in the infinitive form, in which case the pronoun is attached to the ending of the verb dropping the final “e” of the verb: “vado a parlargliene” (I’m going to talk to him about that.) With the forms “gerundio”, past participle and imperative, the pronouns are attached to the ending of the verb (parlandogliene, parlatogliene, parlagliene!) (talking to him/her about that, having talked to him/her about that, talk to him/her about that!) 
• If the verbs “dovere, potere, volere” precede the infinitive of another verb, the pronoun may precede the form of “dovere, potere, volere” or may be attached to the ending of the infinitive: “gliene devo parlare” or “devo parlargliene” (I have to talk to him about that.) 
• In a negative sentence the pronoun remains in front of the verb: “non gliene parlo” (I don’t talk to him about that.) 
• With compound tenses the pronouns remain in front of the verb. Please note: the past participle agrees with the object replaced by the double object pronoun: “le ho dato la mela” (I gave her the apple), “gliela ho data” (I gave it to her.) 
• Remember that “lo” and “la” drop the vowel and take the apostrophe in front of the conjugated forms of “avere”: “gliel‘ ho data” (I gave it to her) “me l‘ ha data” (he/she gave it to me)… 

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS 

Indefinite pronouns give a very generic or indefinite information about the object or subject they refer to. Here is a chart of the most used:

		Special notes
used only at the singular	chiunque (anyone, anybody)
ognuno/a (each one)
nessuno/a (nobody)	when placed before the verb it does not require “non”: “nessuno ha chiamato” (nobody called.) After the verb it requires “non”: “non ha chiamato nessuno” (nobody called.)
niente (nothing)	when placed before the verb it does not require “non”: “niente gli fa paura” (nothing scares him.) After the verb it requires “non”: “non gli fa paura niente” (nothing scares him.)
nulla (nothing)	when placed before the verb it does not require “non”: “nulla gli fa paura” (nothing scares him.) After the verb it requires “non”: “non gli fa paura nulla” (nothing scares him.)
qualcuno/a (someone)
qualcosa (something)
uno/a (one, someone)
used mostly or only at the plural	alcuni/e (some -people, things)	it is mostly used in the plural form and it requires the object or subject to whom it refers to be in the plural form: “alcuni non amano leggere” (some people don’t like to read.)
certi/e (some -people, things)
used at the singular and plural	alcuno/a/i/e (nobody, nothing, not any)	it is used in the singular form only in negative sentences: “ti ho già detto che non ho penne; non ne ho alcuna” (I already told you I don’t have pens; I don’t have any.)
altrettanto/a/i/e (as much, as many)
altro/a/i/e (other, different)
ciascuno/a/i/e (each one)
diverso/a/i/e (several, various)
molto/a/i/e (many)
parecchio/a/chi/chie (quite a lot of, several)
poco/a/chi/che (little, few)
tale/i (certain, a certain)	it is used in general with the article (“un tale; una tale”) when it refers to something or someone that is not known or specified: “ti ha telefonato un tale”; “ti ha telefonato una tale” (someone called you.)
tanto/a/i/e (a lot of, much, many)
troppo/a/i/e (too much, too many)
tutto/a/i/e (all)
vario/a/ri/rie (various, several quite a few)

VERBS COMBINED WITH PRONOUNS 

Certain verbs, combined with certain pronouns, are used idiomatically. Here is a small list of commonly used ‘verbs with pronouns’. Check the lessons for more details.

Andarsene	To go away(E.g. Me ne vado = I’m going away)
Avercela con qualcuno	To be angry at someone (E.g. Ce l’ho con te = I’m angry at you)
Cavarsela	To get away with something or someone, to manage(E.g. Me la sono cavata bene = I have managed well)
Comprarsi	To buy for oneself(E.g. Mi sono comprato la macchina = I have purchased the car)
Farcela	To succeed(E.g. Ce l’ho fatta! = I made it! I have succeeded!)
Fregarsene	Not to give a damn(E.g. Me ne frego = I don’t give a damnFregatene = let go, forget it Non me ne frega niente = I do not care at all )
Mettercela tutta	To do everything one can possibly do(E.g. Ce la sto mettendo tutta = I’m doing all I can possibly do)
Metterci	How much time one needs to do something(E.g. Per andare in ufficio ci metto due ore = It takes me two hours to go to the office)
Passarsela bene	To have a good period in life(E.g. Me la passo bene = I have a good period of life)
Prendersela con qualcuno per qualcosa	To get offended with someone for something (E.g. Te la prendi sempre con lui per tutto = you always get offended with him for everything)
Provarci	To try to do something(E.g. Provaci! = Try!)
Riuscirci	To succeed(E.g. Ci sono riuscito = I have made it)
Sentirsela	To feel you can do something(E.g. Non me la sento = I don’t feel I can do it)
Volerci	To need; to take; how long or how much it takes to do something(E.g. ci vogliono tre ore per andare in città = it takes three hours to go in town.Quanto ci vuole? = how much is it?)
Volercene	To take a lot of effort to do something(E.g. Ce ne vuole per diventare ricchi! = it takes a lot of effort to become rich!)