November 9

Italian classes in Didsbury: Italian Indirect Object pronouns

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“I told Sarah that I wanted to go to Rome, but when I told Sarah that, she wasn’t listening. I don’t know why I try to talk to Sarah.”

While you can easily understand the sentences above, they sound a bit forced, a bit repetitive and that’s because instead of using a pronoun, like “her”, I chose to just repeat “Sarah” over and over again.

This is where the Italian indirect object pronouns become useful.

While direct object nouns and pronouns answer the questions whator whom?, indirect object nouns and pronouns answer the questions to whom? or for whom?.

In English the word to is often omitted: We gave a bottle of wine to Sarah.—We gave Sarah a bottle of wine.

However, in Italian, the preposition a is always used before an indirect object pronoun.

  • Abbiamo regalato un libro allo zio Pietro. – We gave a book to uncle Peter.
  • Perché non regali un mazzo di fiori alla mamma? – Why don’t you give mum a bouquet of flowers?
  • Puoi spiegare questo compito a Gianna? – Can you explain this homework to Joan?

As you saw above in the example with “Sarah”, Italian indirect object pronouns (i pronomi indiretti) replace indirect object nouns. They are identical in form to direct object pronouns, except for the third person forms gli, le, and loro.

SINGULAR PLURAL
mi (to/forme ci (to/forus
ti (to/foryou vi (to/foryou
Le (to/foryou (formal m. and f.) Loro (to/foryou (form., m. and f.)
gli (to/forhim loro (to/forthem
le (to/forher

WHERE DO YOU PLACE INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS?

Indirect object pronouns, just like direct object pronouns, precede a conjugated verb, except for loro, which follow the verb.

  • Le ho comprato due biglietti . – I bought her two tickets.
  • Ci regalano una bottiglia di vino. – They bought us a bottle of wine as a gift.
  • Gli scrivo un’email dopo. I’ll write him an email.

A: Che cosa regali alla nonna Monica? – What are you giving granny Monica as a gift?

B: Le regalo un profumo. – I’ll give her a perfume.

Indirect object pronouns can also be attached to an infinitive, and when that happens the –e of the infinitive is dropped.

  • Non ho tempo di parlargli. – I have no time to talk to him.
  • Non ho tempo di parlarle. – I have no time to talk to her.

If the infinitive comes before a form of the verbs dovere, potere, or volere, the indirect object pronoun is either attached to the infinitive (after the –e is dropped) or placed before the conjugated verb.

Voglio parlargli / Gli voglio parlare. – I want to talk to him.

FUN FACT: Le and gli never connect before a verb beginning with a vowel or an h.

  • Le compro un gelato – I bought her an ice cream.
  • Gli hanno detto «Arrivederci!». – They said “Goodbye!” to him.

COMMON VERBS USED WITH ITALIAN INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS

The following common Italian verbs are used with indirect object nouns or pronouns.

dare to give
dire to say
domandare to ask
(im)prestare to lend
insegnare to teach
mandare to send
mostrare to show
offrire to offer
portare to bring
preparare to prepare
regalare to give (as a gift)
rendere to return, give back
riportare to bring back
scrivere to write
telefonare to telephone

If you’d like to learn more, join my intermediate or advanced Italian class in Didsbury – we cover all kinds of interesting topics and practical Italian you can use in everyday life and on holiday in Italy.

Why don’t you join one of the Italian for Beginners classes in Manchester, Chorlton or Didsbury. Contact Learn Italian Manchester for more info.

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About Learn Italian Manchester: My name is Amedea and I’m a native Italian language tutor with a real passion for my language. I run Italian language classes in Manchester which are sociable, fun and designed to teach you Italian you will really use. As well as Italian classes in Manchester (Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced), Online Italian classes via Skype or Zoom. I also teach 1 to 1 Italian lessons and cover areas including Manchester City Centre,Didsbury, Chorlton, Sale, Altrincham, Hale, Woodford, Bramhall and others.  If you would like to do something new, learn to speak Italian and make new friends along the way! Contact me at: hello@learnitalianmanchester.co.uk


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Italian classes in Didsbury, Italian grammar


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