Direct Object Pronouns in Italian
What is a direct object pronouns? Well to answer that let's first look at a direct object in a sentence. We know that a verb represents an action or some type of state of being. We also know that the subject is the doer of that action or the one "being" something. As a result the subject pronouns are a type of subject. They are a subject where one word (the pronoun) has been used in place of a noun (a person, place or thing). The direct object simply put, is the direct recipient of the verb and can be identified by asking who or what. Here are a few examples (for the sake of clarity and having a visible subject in the sentence, I am also including subject pronouns);Io ho scritto un libro. - I wrote a book.
(who or what did I write? "a book". A book is the direct object.
Tu aiuti mia sorella. - You help my sister.
(who or what do you help? "my sister". My sister is the direct object.
Noi giochiamo calcio. - We play soccer.
(who or what do we play? "soccer". Soccer is the direct object.
Now all we have to do is replace the direct object nouns with direct object pronouns and look at how to use them.
This chart shows the basic direct object pronouns
| Italian Direct Object Pronouns | ||
| Weak form | Strong form | English |
|
mi ti lo/la/La ci vi li/le/Li/Le |
me te lui/lei/Lei noi voi loro/Loro |
me you him/her/it us you all them |
How to use the Italian direct object pronoun!
The weak form is most often used so we will start there. The weak form of the direct object pronoun is usually found in 1 of 3 places. First, it is found just before the verb, secondly it is found attached to the end of an infinitive verb and third it is found attached to the end of a conjugated verb in certain instances. We will start by looking at it appearing just before the verb.
Loro hanno chiamato il nostro gruppo. - They called our group.
Loro ci hanno chiamato. - They called us.
Tu vedi mia sorella. - You see my sister.
Tu la vedi - You see her.
Tu porti i bambini qui. - Bring the children here.
Tu li porti qui. - Bring them here.
Here are a few more examples without a subject pronoun.
Mi aiuti molto. - You help me a lot.
Ti chiamerò. - I will call you.
Lo abbiamo portato. - We brought him.
Ci sentiranno. - They will hear us.
Le hanno visto. - They saw them.
Now lets look at a couple of instance when a direct object pronoun being attached to the end of an infinitive.
There are many instance where we have an infinitive verb in our phrases such as when we use modal verbs like volere, dovere or potere and also in various subjunctive clauses where the subject is the same in both clauses.
Vuole vederci. - He wants to see us.
Spero di sentirti presto! - I hope to hear (from) you soon!
Devi studiarlo. - You have to study it.
And finally lets take a look at the strong form of the direct object pronoun which can be used to add emphasis to that direct object and/or can be used for stylistic reasons.
Ha spinto me. - He pushed me.
Ascolterete noi. - You will listen to us.
Porti loro. - Bring them.)
| You can learn more about Italian direct object pronouns on pages 152 - 155 of the book "English Grammar for Students of Italian" by Sergio Adorni and Karen Primorac, copyright 1995. If you do not own this book, don't worry, it is not mandatory that you do. However, it can be very useful in a lot of ways and if you would like to know more about this book and where to buy it, click on the graphic link to the right or simply go to our online bookstore. | You can learn more about Italian direct object pronouns on pages 170 & 171 (page #'s may vary as I have an older edition) of "Ciao", copyright 1986. If you do not own this book, don't worry, it is not mandatory that you do. However, it can be very useful in a lot of ways and if you would like to know more about this book and where to buy it, click on the graphic link to the right or simply go to our online bookstore. | You can learn more about Italian direct object pronouns on pages 57 - 60 of "Complete Italian Grammar" by Marcel Dansesi, copyright 1976. If you do not own this book, don't worry, it is not mandatory that you do. However, it can be very useful in a lot of ways and if you would like to know more about this book and where to buy it, click on the graphic link to the right or simply go to our online bookstore. |
