Learn Pronouns in Italian

There are several approaches to learning a foreign language. The success and failure of each method is dependent on the previous pedagogy of the learner. One method of learning effectively is to learn important chunks of that language. In this article, a discrete chunk of Italian is taken in the form of Italian pronouns, the learning of which should make it easy to remember this aspect permanently.

Steps

Preliminaries

  1. Learn Italian pronunciation. It is recommended that you start by learning Italian pronunciation at Pronounce Italian Words, if you haven't already done so.
  2. Learn the following Italian words that relate to Italian grammar forms:
    • Pronoun : pronome (/pro-no-me/)
    • Subject : soggetto (/sod-dʒεt-to/)
    • Subjective : soggettivo (/sod-dʒet-ti-vo/)
    • Object : oggetto (/od-dʒεt-to/)
    • Objective : oggettivo (/od-dʒet-ti-vo/)
    • Direct Objective : complemento (/com-ple-men-to/, m) ogetttivo
    • Indirect : indiretto (/in-di-rεt-to/)
    • Double : doppio (/dop-pjo/)
    • Reflexive : riflessivo (/ri-fles-si-vo/)
    • Relative : relativo (/re-la-ti-vo/)
    • Possessive : possessivo (/pos-ses-si-vo/)
    • Adjective : aggettivo (/ad-dʒet-ti-vo/).
  3. Be aware that you need to avoid using the second person singular. A foreign learner should never use a second person singular such as tu, tuo, and so on, until he or she is very comfortable in using Italian. It could be insulting to the listener.

Subjective Pronouns

In Italian, subjective pronouns are called pronome soggettivo. They appear as the subject (soggetto) of the sentence.

  1. Drop the subjective pronouns. The endings of Italian verbs show the subject person, which allows the speaker to drop the pronoun. For example:
    • "I speak", in Italian, io parlo, becomes just parlo.
  2. Learn the singular pronouns. These are:
    • I : io
      • Pronounced as /i-o/
    • You (familiar) : tu
      • Pronounced as just /tu/
    • You (normal polite) : Lei
      • Pronounced as /le-i/
      • Notice it is always capitalised in writing.
      • Verbs using this also come similar to verbs for the third person lei.
    • He : egli (becoming obsolete).
      • Pronounced as /eʎ-ʎi/
      • Is used only for emphasise and advanced learner.
    • He: lui
      • Pronounced as /lu-i/
    • It: esso (common for masculine nouns).
      • Pronounced as /es-so/
    • She: ella (becoming obsolete).
      • Pronounced as /el-la/
    • She: lei
      • Pronounced as /le-i/
    • She: essa (common for female human and feminine nouns).
      • Pronounced as /es-sa/
  3. Learn the plural pronouns. These are:
    • We : noi
      • Pronounced as /no-i/
    • You (familiar) : voi
      • Pronounced as /vo-i/
      • This pronoun is becoming more dominant.
    • You (very polite, formal): Loro
      • Pronounced as /lo-ro/
      • Notice it is always capitalised in writing.
      • Verbs using this also come similar to verbs for the third person loro.
    • They : loro (for humans only).
      • Pronounced as /lo-ro/
    • They : essi (common for male human and masculine nouns).
      • Pronounced as /es-si/
    • They : esse (common for female human and feminine nouns).
      • Pronounced as /es-se/.

Possessive Adjectives

In Italian, possessive adjectives are called aggettivo possessivo.

  1. Learn the usage of possessive adjectives. These pronouns modify a noun (nome) to show its owner.
    • The owner could be human or any thing.
    • The possessed item could be human or any thing.
  2. Grammatically, possessive pronouns agree in gender and with either the singular or plural of the possessed item, not with the owner of that item. For example:
    • In English you would say "My book" and in the plural, you'd again say: "My books". But in Italian, it is said, "il mio libro" and "i miei libri", respectively.
    • In English, you would say "His book" and in the feminine form, it changes to "Her book". But in Italian, it is said, "il suo libro" and " il suo libro", respectively; both are masculine, since libro is a masculine (maschile) noun.
  3. Learn the aggettivo possessivo for maschile singolare possessed items. Usually the definite articles 'il' modifies them:
    • mio: il mio libro
    • tuo: il tuo libro
    • Suo: il Suo libro (polite singular second person)
    • suo: il suo libro
    • nostro: il nostro libro
    • vostro: il vostro libro
    • Loro: il Loro libro (polite plural second person)
    • loro: il loro libro.
  4. Learn the aggettivo possessivo for maschile plurale possessed items. Usually the definite articles 'i' modifies them:
    • miei: i miei libri
    • tuoi: i tuoi libri
    • Suoi: i Suoi libri (polite singular second person)
    • suoi: i suoi libri
    • nostri: i nostri libri
    • vostri: i vostri libri
    • Loro: i Loro libri (polite plural second person)
    • loro: i loro libri.
  5. Learn the aggettivo possessivo for femminile singolare possessed items. Usually the definite articles 'la' modifies them:
    • mia: la mia penna
    • tua: la tua penna
    • Sua: la Sua penna (polite singular second person)
    • sua: la sua penna
    • nostra: la nostra penna
    • vostra: la vostra penna
    • Loro: la Loro penna (polite plural second person)
    • loro: la loro penna.
  6. Learn the aggettivo possessivo for femminile plurale possessed items. Usually the definite articles 'le' modifies them:
    • mie: le mie penne
    • tue: le tue penne
    • Sue: le Sue penne (polite singular second person).
    • sue: le sue penne
    • nostre: le nostre penne
    • vostre: le vostre penne
    • Loro: le Loro penne (polite plural second person).
    • loro: le loro penne.
  7. Note that loro and Loro never changed. All other possessive adjectives changed according to the number and gender of the modified nouns except for loro and Loro.

Reflexive Pronouns

In Italian, reflexive pronouns are called pronome riflessivo. They are the simplest to learn and they are object pronouns. Like oggetto indiretto, they appear as the indirect object (oggetto) of the sentence.

  1. Learn the pronome riflessivo for singolare:
    • myself: mi
    • yourself : ti
    • yourself (polite) : si
    • himself and masculine itself : si
    • herself and feminine itself : ci.
  2. Learn the pronome riflessivo for plurale:
    • ourselves : ci
    • yourselves : vi
    • yourselves (polite masculine) : si
    • yourselves (polite feminine) : si
    • themselves (masculine) : si
    • themselves (feminine) : si.

Direct Object Pronouns

In Italian, direct object pronouns are called pronome del complemento oggetto. They appear as the direct object (oggetto) of the sentence.

  1. Learn the complemento oggetto for singolare,
    • me: mi
    • you : ti
    • you (polite) : La
    • him and masculine it : lo
    • her and feminine it : la.
  2. Learn the complemento oggetto for plurale:
    • us : ci
    • you : vi
    • you (polite masculine) : Li
    • you (polite feminine) : Le
    • them (masculine) : li
    • them (feminine) : le.
  3. This is called complemento since it supplies or completes expectation from the subject of the sentence. For example, "I called ..." will be completed by "her," as "I called her."
  4. Learn the position of object pronouns in a sentence as:
    • Object pronouns come before a verb.
    • Object pronouns come after the infinitives and attach to their stems, and will be learned in a more advanced stage than this introductory tutorial.
  5. Learn the rules of elisions. Direct object pronouns before certain verbs contract into those verbs. This is called an elision. In Italian, these elisions are:
    • mi + verbs begin with a vowel (or h) : Sometimes deforms into m'
    • ti + verbs begin with a vowel (or h) : Sometimes deforms into t'
    • Lo + verbs begin with a vowel (or h) : Almost always deforms into L'
    • lo + verbs begin with a vowel (or h) : Almost always deforms into l'
    • la + verbs begin with a vowel (or h) : Almost always deforms into l'
    • ci + verbs begin with e or i : Always deforms into c'
    • vi + verbs begin with a vowel (or h) : Sometimes deforms into v'
    • Li + verbs begin with a vowel (or h) : Never deforms into L'
    • Le + verbs begin with a vowel (or h) : Never deforms into L'
    • li + verbs begin with a vowel (or h) : Never deforms into l'
    • le + verbs begin with a vowel (or h) : Never deforms into l'.

Indirect Object Pronouns

In Italian, indirect object pronouns are called, oggetto indiretto. They appear as the indirect object (oggetto) of the sentence.

  1. Learn the oggetto indiretto for singolare:
    • me: mi
    • you : ti
    • you (polite) : Le
    • him and masculine it : gli
    • her and feminine it : le.
  2. Learn the oggetto indiretto for plurale:
    • us : ci
    • you : vi
    • you (polite masculine) : Loro
    • you (polite feminine) : Loro
    • them (masculine) : loro
    • them (feminine) : loro.
  3. This pronoun is also called complemento di termine, since it shows whom the object falls on at the end. For example, "I give ..." will be completed by "book," as "I give a book ...", and you ask "to whom?" The answer is, "to her." Hence, "I give a book to her." Here, (to) "her" is the indirect object. (Io le do un libro; I to her give a book.)
  4. Note that "to" is included in the indirect object pronouns. For example:
    • "her" is la, but "to her" is le.
  5. Learn the position of an object pronoun in a sentence:
    • Indirect object pronouns come before a verb.
    • Indirect object pronouns come after the infinitives and attach to their stems, as will be learned in a more advanced stage than this introductory tutorial.
    • Both Loro and loro always come after the verb and do not attach to it.
  6. Note that here indirect object pronouns are discussed in sentences where the direct object is a noun. If the direct object is also a pronoun, then one should learn to use double object pronouns, which come next.

Double Object Pronouns

In Italian, the phrase "il doppio oggetto" is used for double object sentences. Note that both direct and indirect objects are pronouns.

  1. Learn what the direct object pronoun of the sentence is. For example: "He gave a book to me"––now, substitute "a book" by the pronoun "it"––He gave "it" to me. Now this needs to be dealt with as double object pronouns. In the basic Italian discussed here, "to me" (indirect pronoun) should come first, then "it" (direct pronoun) and, at last, the "gave" verb that in Italian includes "he" as its ending. Hence, this become in Italian: to me-it-gave, that is, me lo dà
    • Me is the new form of mi when used in a double object pronouns sentence.
  2. Remember that reflexive pronouns also have the role of object pronouns.
  3. Learn where the indirect object or reflexive pronouns should be modified to new forms when they appear before the direct pronouns:
    • mi + (lo, la, li, le) : mi becomes me.
    • ti + (lo, la, li, le) : ti becomes te.
    • Le + (lo, la, li, le) : Le becomes glie.
      • glie attaches to the direct pronouns it precedes. For example,
        • glie + lo becomes glielo.
        • glie + la becomes gliela, and so on.
    • gli + (lo, la, li, le) : gli becomes glie.
      • glie attaches to the direct pronouns it precedes. For example,
        • glie + lo becomes glielo.
        • glie + la becomes gliela, and so on.
    • le + (lo, la, li, le) : le becomes glie.
      • glie attaches to the direct pronouns it precedes. For example,
        • glie + lo becomes glielo.
        • glie + la becomes gliela, and so on.
    • ci + (lo, la, li, le) : ci becomes ce.
    • vi + (lo, la, li, le) : vi becomes ve.
    • Loro does not change and comes after the verb.
    • loro does not change and comes after the verb.
  4. The reflexive pronouns, mi, ti, ci, vi follow the same rules, and:
    • si + (lo, la, li, le) : si becomes se.

Possessive Pronouns

  1. Note that possessive pronouns answer the questions such as, "Whose is this?" In Italian, in contrast to English, there are no possessive pronouns. Instead, possessive adjectives are used with the modified noun dropped and "definite articles" are placed in front of them to convey the same meaning as English possessive pronouns. For example:
    • Di chi è questo libro? È il mio. (Whose is this book? It is mine.)

Relative Pronouns

  1. Note that relative pronouns are those that begin a "relative clause" and refer to a noun in the "subject clause." For example, "The boy who sits in the front row." Here the relative clause is "who sits in the front row", which modifies the subject clause "the boy." In this sentence, who has the role of a pronoun.
  2. Note that there are other pronouns in the same category, such as:
    • Demonstrative pronouns, such as, "That is what I am talking about in an hour." By that he refers to a topic known by the audience.
    • Interrogative pronoun, such as, "Who is the boy sitting in the front row (showing John in front row)?" Hence, who is a reference to John.
    • Indefinite pronouns, such as, "Anybody could sit in the front row (among them John)." Here, anybody refers to John.
    • Reciprocal pronouns, such as "Teacher and students started arguing with each other." Again, each other refers to teachers and students.
  3. Note also that relative, interrogative, and demonstrative pronouns have three cases depending on the noun that they refer to as:
    • Subjective
    • Objective
    • Possessive.

Demonstrative Adjectives (Pronouns)

In Italian, like English, demonstrative adjectives are used as demonstrative pronouns. Also like English, Italian uses demonstrative adjectives as definite articles. For example, the boy shows that boy, and vice versa.

  1. Learn the demonstrative adjective (and pronoun) this:
    • This (masculine) : questo
    • This (feminine) : questa
    • These (masculine) : questi
    • These (feminine) : queste.
  2. Learn the demonstrative adjective (and pronoun) that. The adjective "that" (quello) is completely like the corresponding Italian definite articles in modifying nouns. The stem is quel:
    • Article il : quel
    • Article l' : quell'
    • Article i : quei
    • Article gli : quegli
    • Article lo : quello
    • Article la : quella
    • Article le : quelle.

Relative Pronouns

Note that some relative pronouns are invariable; that is, they do not change when the referred noun is masculine or feminine or singular or plural:

    • che : who, that, which, whom
    • chi : who (one who)
    • cui : which, whom; in the sense,
      • a cui : to whom
      • con cui : with which (the company with which I have contract.)
      • di cui : to which
      • in cui : in which (where)
    • ci&ograve che: what.
  2. Variable relative pronouns change depending on gender and number:
    • Article il : quale (singular).
    • Article la : quale (singular).
    • Article i : quali (plural).
    • Article le : quali (plural).
    • If quello che (that which) is used in place of ci&ograve che, then quello changes as a demonstrative adjective, but che remains invariable.

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