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Grammar Lesson 45:

Object pronouns: the unstressed form

Object pronouns indicate the person or thing affected by the action of the verb, both directly and indirectly. This is the unstressed form of the object pronouns in Italian:

SINGULAR:

	Masculine	Feminine	Meaning
1st	mi		me
2nd	ti		you
3rd	lo, gli, ne / si (reflexive)	la, le, ne / si (reflexive)	him, it / himself

PLURAL:

	Masculine	Feminine	Meaning
1st	ci		us
2nd	ci		you
3rd	li, ne	le, ne	them

Usage:

The direct / indirect object pronouns of the unstressed form are generally used before the verb.

Examples:

- Mi piacciono i tuoi genitori / I like your parents

- Le vuoi dire perché stai ridendo? / Would you tell her why are you laughing?

- Gli ho chiesto perché / I've asked him why

- Li ho trovati bene / I've found them well

In some cases they follow the verb, becoming englobed in the verb itself (attached to its end). This happens with positive imperatives, infinitives and gerunds.

Examples:

- Baciami! / Kiss me!

- Marco e Anna sono venuti a salutarci / Marco and Anna have come to greet us

- Devi perdonarlo. Ti prego, perdonalo! / You must forgive him. Please, forgive him!

- Dicendoti che Marco ti ama ho fatto un casino / I've made mess by telling you that Marco loves you.

The direct / indirect object pronouns in the unstressed form can be arranged in pairs, each of them answering a different question, usually "whom / what?" and "who / what … to?".

In this context mi, ti, gli, si, vi, ci (which answer the question "who / what … to?") become me, te, glie-, se, ve, ce and precede lo, la, le, li (which answer the question "whom? / what?").

Examples:

- Vieni, te lo mostro / Come, I'll show it to you

- Ve la voglio proprio presentare / I really want to introduce her to you

- Se l'è preso tua figlia / Your daughter took it for herself

- Ce lo voleva dire lui stesso / He wanted to tell us that himself

NOTE that gli in this context becomes glie- which is enclitic (attached to the object pronoun which follows)

- Anna glielo ha già detto / Anna has already told him that

- Gliela presenterò domani / I will introduce her to him tomorrow

- Glieli ho presi io / I took them for him

- Quelle scarpe sono di Anna. Gliele ha prestate lei / Those shoes are Anna's. She lent them to her

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