I pronomi personali complemento diretto
Direct object pronouns
After this sheet you can avoid repeating the same noun in a conversation: instead of “Vedi Maria? Sì, vedo Maria” you will say briefly and naturally “Sì, la vedo”. You will learn to replace the direct object with the pronouns mi, ti, lo, la, ci, vi, li, le, to put them in the right place and to agree the ending of the past participle correctly (l'ho vista, li ho comprati). This is the CEFR descriptor for level A2: “I can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar topics.”
— Compri il pane? — Sì, lo compro io. — E le mele? — Le ho già comprate stamattina. — Perfetto, grazie! Ti chiamo dopo, va bene?
To avoid repeating a noun, Italian uses small pronouns: lo, la, li, le (Vedi Maria? Sì, LA vedo — Do you see Maria? Yes, I see HER). These short words (mi, ti, lo, la, ci, vi, li, le) are called direct object pronouns (complemento diretto) — they answer the question who? what? (without a preposition). The pronoun normally stands BEFORE the verb: “La vedo”. There are two traps: the POSITION of the pronoun (before the verb!) and the AGREEMENT of the participle ending in the passato prossimo (l'ho vista, li ho visti).
1. Che cosa sono e a che cosa servono
Look at the dialogue and notice that the words in bold replace a noun that has already been mentioned. The direct object is the person or thing that the action passes onto directly — it answers the question chi? / che cosa? (who? / what?) WITHOUT a preposition. Instead of repeating the whole noun with its article (il libro, la pizza), we use a short pronoun. Key rule about position: the atono (unstressed) pronoun stands IMMEDIATELY BEFORE the conjugated verb — nothing is inserted between the pronoun and the verb. Mind the gender agreement: lo replaces a masculine noun (il libro → lo), la a feminine noun (la pizza → la). ALWAYS learn the noun with its article, to know whether to use lo or la.
| Osoba | Zaimek IT | Znaczenie PL | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 lp. | mi | mnie | Mi aspetti? (Czekasz na mnie?) |
| 2 lp. | ti | ciebie | Ti chiamo dopo. (I’ll call you later.) |
| 3 lp. m. | lo | go / to | Lo vedo. (I see him.) |
| 3rd sing. f. | la | her | La conosco. (I know her.) |
| 1 lm. | ci | nas | Ci invitano. (They invite us.) |
| 2 lm. | vi | was | Vi ascolto. (I’m listening to you.) |
| 3 lm. m. | li | ich / je (m.) | Li compro. (I buy them.) |
| 3rd pl. f. | le | them (f.) | Le mangio. (Jem je.) |
- — Conosci Marco? — Sì, lo conosco bene.
- — Bevi la birra? — No, non la bevo.
- — Compri i biglietti? — Sì, li compro io.
- Maria, ti chiamo stasera!
2. L'apostrofo: lo / la → l'
Note that before a verb beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) and before the h- forms (ho, hai, ha, hanno) the pronouns lo and la lose their vowel and are written with an apostrophe: l'. CAREFUL: the elided l' can mean BOTH lo (m.) AND la (f.) — in speech and in writing they look the same! You recognise the gender only from the participle ending in the passato prossimo: l'ho visto (him) vs l'ho vista (her). The plural forms li and le are NEVER elided: li ho visti, le ho viste (not “l'ho”). Elision only affects singular lo/la.
| Full form | Before a vowel / h- | Example |
|---|---|---|
| lo | l' | l'aspetto (= lo aspetto) |
| la | l' | l'invito (= la invito) |
| li | li (bez zmian) | li aspetto |
| le | le (bez zmian) | le invito |
- — Ami Anna? — Sì, l'amo!
- L'aspetto da un'ora.
- Le offro un caffè.
3. La posizione: prima del verbo, ma anche attaccato
Usually the unstressed pronoun stands BEFORE the conjugated verb (lo vedo, ti chiamo). But there are three important situations where the pronoun attaches AT THE END of the verb, forming a single word with it: 1) Infinitive (infinito): the infinitive drops its final -e and the pronoun attaches: vedere + lo → vederlo (to see him); comprare + le → comprarle. 2) Imperative (imperativo) tu/voi/noi: chiama + mi → chiamami! (call me!); compra + lo → compralo! (buy it!). 3) With ecco: eccolo! (here he/it is!), eccomi! (here I am!). In constructions with a modal verb + infinitive (volere, potere, dovere) you have TWO correct options: the pronoun before the modal OR attached to the infinitive: “Lo voglio vedere” = “Voglio vederlo” (I want to see him). Both are correct.
| Kontekst | Pozycja | Example |
|---|---|---|
| czasownik odmieniony | przed czasownikiem | La compro. |
| bezokolicznik | doczepiony (-e ginie) | Voglio comprarla. |
| modalny + bezokolicznik | obie opcje | La voglio comprare. / Voglio comprarla. |
| imperativo (tu/voi/noi) | doczepiony | Comprala! |
| ecco | doczepiony | Eccola! |
- Voglio vederti presto.
- Puoi aiutarmi? / Mi puoi aiutare?
- Chiamami quando arrivi!
- — Dov'è il telefono? — Eccolo!
4. L'accordo del participio con lo, la, li, le
This is the heart of the sheet. In the passato prossimo with the auxiliary AVERE the past participle normally does NOT change its ending: “Ho comprato la pizza”. BUT when the pronoun lo, la, li, le stands before the verb, the participle MUST agree in gender and number with that pronoun (that is, with the noun it replaced): • lo → -o: L'ho comprato. (il libro — I bought it) • la → -a: L'ho comprata. (la pizza — I bought it) • li → -i: Li ho comprati. (i libri — I bought them) • le → -e: Le ho comprate. (le mele — I bought them) For the pronouns mi, ti, ci, vi the agreement is OPTIONAL (Ci ha visto / Ci ha visti) — at A2 you can leave -o. But with lo, la, li, le the agreement is NECESSARY. It is the participle ending that reveals whether l'ho vist- refers to a boy (visto) or a girl (vista).
| Zaimek | Rodzaj/liczba | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| lo / l' | m. lp. | -o | L'ho visto. (il film) |
| la / l' | f. sing. | -a | L'ho vista. (la mostra) |
| li | m. lm. | -i | Li ho visti. (i film) |
| le | f. pl. | -e | Le ho viste. (le mostre) |
- — Hai comprato il pane? — Sì, l'ho comprato.
- — Hai visto la partita? — Sì, l'ho vista.
- — Hai preso le chiavi? — Sì, le ho prese.
- Questi libri? Li ho già letti.
5. Le forme toniche: me, te, lui, lei...
Besides the atone forms (mi, ti...) there are the tonic (stressed) forms: me, te, lui, lei, noi, voi, loro. We use them when we want to EMPHASISE the person, in a contrast, or AFTER A PREPOSITION. The difference: the atone form is short and stands next to the verb (Ti amo); the tonic form is longer, usually stands AFTER the verb and puts emphasis on the person (Amo te, non lei — I love YOU, not her). Note the 3rd person: the tonic direct object is lui (him), lei (her), loro (them) — the same words as the subject. The tonic form is also obligatory after prepositions (con me, per te, senza di lui), but that is already a topic bordering on another sheet.
| Atona (przy czasowniku) | Tonica (z naciskiem / po przyimku) |
|---|---|
| mi | me |
| ti | te |
| lo / la | lui / lei |
| ci | noi |
| vi | voi |
| li / le | loro |
- Ti amo. → Amo te, non lei!
- Cercano proprio te.
- Invitano anche lui.