Pronouns:
Subjects do the action. Objects receive the action.
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English | Subject Pronouns (doers) | Direct Object Pronouns before the verb (answers the question who or what) | Indirect Object Pronouns before the verb | Direct Object Pronouns after verb or preposistion | Indirect Object Pronouns after verb or preposition |
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I | io | mi | mi | me | a me |
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You (informal) | tu | ti | ti | te | a te |
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He/ it | lui, egli, esso | lo | gli | lui, esso | a lui |
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She/ it | lei, ella, essa | la | le | lei, essa | a lei |
YOU
(polite) | Lei | La | Le | Lei | a Lei |
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We | noi | ci | ci | noi | a noi |
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You (plural) | voi | vi | vi | voi | a voi |
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They | loro | li | gli | loro | a loro |
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They | loro, essi | le | gli | loro, essi | a loro |
YOU (plural polite)
(polite) | Loro | Li | ----- | Loro | a Loro |
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Unstressed (deboli) object pronouns are placed before a conjugated verb even if negative.
These objects are attached to
infinitives, and imperatives (commands).
Stressed (forti) object pronouns are placed after a conjugated verb or a preposition
Examples:
Lui viene con me.
Incontro lei.
Your learned from the previous lesson that direct object pronouns replace nouns that are acted on directly by a verb. Indirect object pronouns, as you may guess, replace nouns that are not acted directly upon by a verb. To make sense of indirect objects in English, you need prepositions. Take a look at the following examples to understand what I mean:
Direct Object examples
<<>>I called him
<<>>He punched me
Indirect Object examples
<<>>They spoke to us
<<>>She talked to him
<<>>
As you can see, saying just "They spoke us" instead of "They spoke to us" would make no sense, so you need to use a preposition when using the verb "to speak." In Italian, however, you don't necessarily need the preposition, all you need is one of the following indirect object pronouns:
| Word |
Meaning |
| mi | |
to me |
| ti | |
to you |
| gli | |
him /to it |
| le | |
her /to it |
| ci | |
to us |
| vi | |
to all of you |
| gli | |
to them |
<<>>
Notice the difference from direct object pronouns (learned in Unit 1) and indirect object pronouns only differ for "him," "her," and "them," so that should make it easier to remember them.
<<>>
So when do you use direct object pronouns and when do you use indirect object pronouns? Think of direct object pronouns as replacing nouns and think of indirect object pronouns as replacing prepositional phrases. If you ever have any doubts, feel free to e-mail me or ask your question in class.
<<>>
The direct object is governed directly by the verb, for example, in the
following statement: Romeo loved her.
The Indirect Object in an English sentence often stands where you would
expect the direct object but common sense will tell you that the direct object
is later in the sentence, e.g.: Romeo bought her a bunch of flowers.
The direct object — i.e. the thing that Romeo bought is “a bunch of flowers”;
Romeo didn't buy “her” as if she were a slave. So the pronoun her in the
sentence actually means "for her" and is the Indirect Object.
Examples:
Gli faccio una sorpresa.
<<>>I'll surprise him.
Le devo chiedere la sua opinione.
<<>>I have to ask her her opinion.
