Centro Studi Italiani ^TM

Welcome to the The Italian Electronic Classroom! ^TM

N.B.: We use a written accent mark to help students identify word stress and open/closed vowels even though Standard Italian may not require it.

Subject and Object Pronouns

Subject pronouns only have one form, whether they precede or follow the verb.

Object pronouns have two forms: one is used when the pronoun is placed before the verb form or combined with it, the other when the pronoun is placed after the verb. 

* La and lo (and also le and li in the spoken language) loose the vowel and take the apostrophe. 

Pronouns are attached to the following verb forms: past participle (used by themselves, without essere or avere), the infinitive, the gerund and the imperative. In this case, the the final "e" of the infinitive is dropped ( verbs like condurre lose the last syllable "re").

Note that the word stress does not change.

With the verbs potere, dovere, volere + the infiitive, the pronoun can precede the first verb or may be attached to the following infinitive.

In the negative form, "non" precede the pronoun in front of the verb.

Subject pronouns are rarely used in Italian. They are usually expressed only for emphasis, to make a distinction, to avoid ambiguity. They are also used by themselves in short answers. See the following examples:

The second form of the object pronoun ( in the third column of the table below) is normally used for emphasis, to make a distinction, to avoid ambiguity. See the following examples:

In the past tense formed with the auxiliary "avere" and the past participle of the verb (passato prossimo), if the verb is preceded by a lo, la, li or le, the past participle must agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the pronoun.

If the pronoun follows the verb, the agreement is possible but not mandatory.

[In the following examples, "io" is in parenthesis because it usually is omitted]:

With the forms mi, ti, ci, vi the agreement is not mandatory. Note that each of these pronouns can be referred to both men and women. For examples:

Object pronouns can replace more than one word or an entire sentence:

For oral exercises on pronouns, see Oral drills on Italian Grammar #1.

Back to The Italian Electronic Classroom! Index

Back to our homepage

Comments, suggestions, requests? We'll be happy to hear from you!

E-Mail: italian@locuta.com

© 1981 - 2002 by Centro Studi Italiani ^TM