Italian Direct Object Pronouns: A Comprehensive Guide

Italian direct object pronouns are very useful little words that replace nouns in a sentence, just like other pronouns. Pronouns are essential to smooth communication because they allow us to avoid lots of repetition. So while this may sound like an abstract grammar topic, it is actually all about communication!

Consider the following sentences:

John bought a table. John is going to put this table in the kitchen. John doesn’t have a table in the kitchen at the moment. That’s why John had to buy a table.

It sounds very awkward, doesn’t it?

But thanks to pronouns, we can say it like this:

John bought a table. He is going to put it in the kitchen. He doesn’t have one there at the moment, that’s why he had to buy a new one.

This sounds a lot better and avoids repeating the same words over and over. And just as in English, using pronouns correctly is essential to speaking fluently in Italian. Italian object pronouns are different from English ones in a few ways, which we will explore in this article.

Like other grammar topics, pronouns can be a bit daunting to come to terms with, but don’t worry! This article will explain how to form and use direct object pronouns in Italian step by step.

Pronouns

In general, pronouns replace nouns (people, things or places), as suggested by their name: pro-nouns. This means that, instead of repeating the same word again and again, you can use a pronoun instead. There are several types of pronouns. Which type of pronoun you use depends on the function it has in your sentence.

Let’s go back to our previous example:

John bought a table.

The nouns in this sentence are ‘John’ and ‘the table.’ John is the subject of the sentence, so it can be replaced by ‘he,’ which is a subject pronoun. This is a pronoun that replaces the subject of a sentence when the subject is a man.

‘A table’ is the direct object of the sentence and can be replaced by ‘it,’ which is a pronoun that replaces the direct object of a sentence when the subject is a thing.

In this article we focus on the second type of pronouns we mentioned in the example – direct object pronouns. First, we need to understand what a direct object is so that we know what these pronouns can replace.

What is a direct object?

A direct object is the person or thing that receives the action of the verb. In our example “John bought a table,” ‘bought’ is the verb. John is the subject, because he performed the action of buying the table. ‘A table’ is the direct object, because it receives the action of the verb.

The direct object answers the question, “What or who does the verb apply to?” Again looking at our example, if you ask, “What did John buy?” the answer is ‘the table.’ Therefore ‘the table’ is the direct object.

Here are a few more examples:

• I saw my friends this afternoon.
  (Who did I see? ‘My friends’ – this is the direct object.)

• Lisa is eating a sandwich.
  (What is Lisa eating? ‘A sandwich’ – this is the direct object.)

• We will call Grandma tomorrow.
  (Who will we call? ‘Grandma’ – this is the direct object.)

Remember the fundamental difference between the subject and the object. While the subject does the action in the sentence, the object receives the action.

The three example sentences above could be rewritten using direct object pronouns:

• I saw them this afternoon.
• Lisa is eating it.
• We will call her tomorrow.

‘Them,’ ‘it’ and ‘him’ are direct object pronouns in English.

Direct object pronouns in Italian

Now, how does it work in Italian? The process for identifying a direct object pronoun is the same. Let’s take the same examples and translate them into Italian:

• Ho visto i miei amici oggi pomeriggio. (I saw my friends this afternoon.)
  Who did I see? I miei amici (my friends) – the direct object

• Lisa sta mangiando un panino. (Lisa is eating a sandwich.)
  What is she eating? Un panino (a sandwich) – the direct object

• Chiameremo la nonna domani. (We’ll call Grandma tomorrow.)
  Who will we call? La nonna (Grandma) – the direct object

Beware the difference between the subject and the object – in Italian it can be more difficult to identify the subject because it does not have to be expressed directly, like in English. When the subject is left out, it has to be understood from the verb, like in the first and third sentences:

• In the first sentence, ho visto (‘to see’) is a first person singular verb, so the subject is io (‘I’ in English), even though the word io is not spoken.

• In the third sentence, chiameremo is a first person plural verb, so the subject is noi (‘we’), even though it is not stated out loud.

Check our guide to Italian conjugation for a more detailed explanation of the unspoken subject in Italian.

The position of direct object pronouns

Now let’s look at how we can replace the direct object with the direct object pronouns in our examples:

* Li ho visti oggi pomeriggio. (I saw them this afternoon.)

• Lisa lo sta mangiando. (Lisa is eating it.)
• La chiameremo domani. (We will call her tomorrow.)

As you can see from the examples above, an important difference between English and Italian direct object pronouns is the position of the pronoun in the sentence. In English the pronoun goes after the verb, but in Italian it usually goes before the verb. In the sentences below, the pronouns are in bold type to show this difference more clearly:

• Li ho visti oggi pomeriggio. (I saw them this afternoon.)
• Lisa lo sta mangiando. (Lisa is eating it.)

Please note that while this is a general rule, with some verb forms, pronouns have to be placed at the end of the verb. These are the informal imperativo, the infinito, and the gerundio. See the following examples, where the direct object and the direct object pronouns are in bold.

• Informal imperativo:
  Chiama la nonna. (Call Grandma.)
  Chiamala. (Call her.)

• Infinito:
  È difficile imparare il cinese. (It is hard to learn Chinese.)
  È difficile impararlo. (It is hard to learn it.)

• Gerundio:
  Guardando Luca ho notato qualcosa di strano. (Looking at Luca I noticed something strange.)
  Guardandolo, ho notato qualcosa di strano. (Looking at him, I noticed something strange.)

Finally, there’s a second type of direct object pronoun that we call tonici (‘stressed’). These are normally only used to put emphasis on the pronoun itself or to contrast one person with another. They can only be used to replace people, not things, and unlike the ordinary forms of direct object pronouns, they are placed after the verb. You can see how these are used in the following example:

Hanno invitato me, non te! (They have invited me, not you!)

In the table below, take a look at the full list of Italian direct object pronouns next to the English ones.

Looking at this table, we can see a few more differences. In Italian, there’s no difference between a third person singular pronoun for a person or a thing – they are both lo. In English, on the other hand, ‘him’ is used for a person and ‘it’ for a thing.

However, whether we use lo or la depends on the gender of the word, even if it’s a thing (in Italian all words have a grammatical gender, either masculine or feminine). Similarly, in Italian there’s a difference between a third person plural pronoun for men (li) and for women (le), while in English it is always ‘them.’

As shown in the table above, in some cases lo and la are shortened to l’. This happens when the verb that follows starts with a vowel or an ‘h,’ which in Italian is not pronounced. It’s not necessary to shorten lo and la, but it is very common, especially with the forms of passato prossimo. Here are a couple of examples:

• Giorgia è molto affascinante e tutti l’ammirano. (Giorgia is very charming – everyone admires her.)

• Conosci Franco? Sì, l’ho conosciuto alla festa di Claudio. (Do you know Franco? Yes, I met him at Claudio’s party.)

• Ieri abbiamo perso il treno e oggi l’ abbiamo perso di nuovo! (Yesterday we missed the train and today we missed it again!)

Note that only the singular third person pronouns lo and la can be shortened. The plural ones, li and le, cannot be shortened, so they can only be used in their full form.

Examples of Italian direct object pronouns

Now that we’ve laid out the theory, let’s look at a few examples in the table below to see how these pronouns work in practice.

Direct object pronouns are very often used in short answers to questions. See the following examples:

Italian direct object pronouns: Gender and number

When using the third person direct object pronouns lo, la, li and le, you have to pay attention to the gender and number. The gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) of the pronoun has to match the gender and number of the word they replace. Look at the following examples:

• Bevi il vino? Sì, lo bevo. (Do you drink wine – Yes, I drink it.) Lo replaces il vino (masculine singular).

• Mangi la pasta? Sì, la mangio. (Do you eat pasta? Yes, I eat it.) La replaces la pasta (feminine singular).

• Compri i peperoni? Sì, li compro. (Do you buy peppers? Yes, I buy them.) Li replaces i peperoni (masculine plural).

• Prendi le arance? Sì, le prendo. (Do you get oranges? Yes, I get them.) Le replaces le arance (feminine plural).

As we said above, this is different from English. So if English is your native language, you might need to pay extra attention!

A direct object pronoun can sometimes replace an entire phrase or expression, and not just a noun. In this case, the pronoun used is normally lo.

In the following example, lo (shortened to l’) replaces the whole phrase ‘that he wants to change jobs’:

Secondo te Luca vuole cambiare lavoro? No, non l’ha mai detto.
(Do you think that Luca wants to change jobs? No, he never said that.)

And notice how lo replaces the phrase ‘what time the plumber is coming’ in the example below:

A che ora viene l'idraulico? Non lo so.
(What time is the plumber coming? I don’t know.)

Italian direct object pronouns with passato prossimo

When using the direct object pronouns lo, la, li and le with passato prossimo, besides selecting the correct pronoun for gender and number, you also have to change the ending of the past participle to match the gender and number of the object or the direct object pronoun.

Let’s take the same examples from the previous section and put them in the passato prossimo:

• Hai bevuto il vino? Sì, l’ho bevuto. (Did you drink wine? Yes, I drank it.) lo (l’) and bevuto match il vino (masculine singular).

• Hai mangiato la pasta? Sì, l’ho mangiata. (Did you eat pasta? Yes, I ate it.) la (l’) and mangiata match la pasta (feminine singular).

• Hai comprato i peperoni? Sì, li ho comprati. (Did you buy peppers? Yes, I bought them.) li and comprati match i peperoni (masculine plural).

• Hai preso le arance? Sì, le ho prese. (Did you get oranges? Yes, I got them.) le and prese match le arance (feminine plural).

In all these sentences, both the direct object pronoun and the past participle (bevuto, mangiata, comprati and prese) agree in gender and number with the direct object. This is always necessary when using direct object pronouns in the passato prossimo.

Notice that, as we mentioned above, the singular third person direct object pronouns lo and la are usually shortened to l’ in the passato prossimo because all the forms of the auxiliary verb avere, which always go after the direct object pronoun, start with ‘a’ or ‘h’ (ho, hai, ha, abbiamo, avete, hanno).

Direct vs indirect object pronouns Italian

When a preposition goes before the object, specifically the preposition a in Italian, it is not a direct object. We call that an indirect object and use a different set of pronouns to replace it. Look at these examples:

• Ho dato un regalo a Gianna. (I gave a gift to Gianna.)
• Scrivo ai miei genitori. (I write to my parents.)
• Ho risposto al mio capo. (I replied to my boss.)

In all these sentences the preposition a, whether it’s simple or articulated (which means it’s combined with an article), introduces an indirect object.

This is how we could replace the indirect objects in those sentences:

• Le ho dato un regalo. (I gave a present to her.)
• Gli scrivo or Scrivo loro.(I write to them.)
• Gli ho risposto. (I replied to him.)

As you can see, the pronouns we use to replace the indirect objects are different from the direct object pronouns. However, the good news is that they are not all different – some of them do not change regardless of whether there’s a direct or indirect object.

In the following tables you can find direct and indirect object pronouns in their regular and stressed forms for comparison.

*Note: ‘Loro’ is a more formal way of saying ‘to them’, hardly used nowadays in spoken Italian. As an exception to the rule, this pronoun needs to go after the verb, as you can see in this example:

Scrivo loro. (I write to them.)

Pro tip: these are also the pronouns we use with the verb ‘piacere’ in Italian, to say that you like something. Take a look at these examples:

• A Giulia piace nuotare? Sì, le piace. (Does Giulia like swimming? Yes, she likes it.)
• Ti è piaciuto il film? No, non mi è piaciuto. (Did you like the film? No, I didn’t like it.)
• A Giacomo non piace la birra. Gli piace solo il vino. (Giacomo doesn’t like beer. He only likes wine.)

Wrapping up

Using Italian direct object pronouns is an important part of speaking Italian fluently. Just as in English, they replace the direct object in a sentence, allowing you to avoid unnecessary repetition. Just remember that In Italian, direct object pronouns go before the verb, and for some forms (such as the passato prossimo) you need to pay extra attention to the gender and number.

Now that you’ve read this article, the next step is to practice using direct object pronouns in everyday conversation. Knowing and being able to use these little words will do wonders to improve your communication skills!