Italian All-in-One For Dummies (106 page)

The following sections show you how to replace direct and indirect object pronouns and provide some common double pronouns.

Figuring out how to replace direct and indirect object pronouns

The following examples show how to replace the direct object and the indirect object with pronouns. In the sentence
Regalo un libro al bambino
(
I give a book to the little boy
),
un libro
(
a book
) is the direct object, and
al bambino
(
to the little boy
) is the indirect object. Here's how to recast this sentence, combining the direct and indirect object pronouns:

Replace
al bambino
with the indirect object pronoun
gli:
Gli regalo un libro
(
I give him a book
).

Replace
un libro
with the direct object pronoun
lo:
Lo regalo al bambino
(
I give it to the little boy
).

Combine the two object pronouns, starting with the indirect object pronoun followed by the direct object pronoun:
Glielo
is the combination of
gli
meaning
to him
and
lo
meaning
the book,
so you get
Glielo regalo
(
I give it to him
).

When combining the two object pronouns in the third person, the indirect object pronoun is always
gli
even if the translation is
to her.
You know that the pronoun
le
means
to her,
but when combining pronouns, the indirect object pronoun will always be
gli.
In the same example
Regalo un libro al bambino,
substitute
al bambino
with
alla bambina.
Watch the transformation: Replace
alla bambina
with the indirect object pronoun
gli
(not
le
), and replace the direct object pronoun with
lo.
The combination is the same:
Glielo regalo.

When using the combined pronouns and a compound tense, the past participle agrees in gender and number with the direct object pronoun. For example,
Ho regalato una bicicletta alla bambina
(
I gave a bicycle to the little girl
) becomes
Gliel'ho regalata
(
I gave it to her
). When
lo
and
la
precede the verb
avere
(
to have
), you can drop the vowel and replace it with an apostrophe, or you can keep them as they are.

When using double pronouns with the imperative, one-syllable commands (
da', fa', sta', di',
and
va'
) followed by a direct, indirect, or combined pronoun, double the initial consonant of the pronoun attached. For example,
Da' il conto a me!
becomes
Dammelo!
(
Give the bill to me!
)

Checking out common double pronouns

Table 3-5
lists pronoun combinations.
Mi, ti, ci,
and
vi
change to
me, te, ce,
and
ve
to ease pronunciation, and the third person singular and plural becomes one word.

Table 3-5 Double Pronouns: Indirect + Direct Object Pronouns

Note that in the third person plural, you can replace
glielo
(in its various forms) with
loro
after the verb. For example,
Lo compro loro
(
I'll buy it for you/them
).

But Wait, There's More! Special Italian Pronouns

Italian has two special pronouns:
ci
(
here; there
) and
ne
(
of this/that/him/her/them
). They're considered pronouns because they replace prepositional phrases. The pronoun
ci
generally replaces the prepositions
a, in,
and
su
+ a place or a thing.
Ne
generally replaces the prepositions
di
and
da
+ a person or thing. When used idiomatically, both pronouns can refer to entire sentences or ideas. The following sections give details on each pronoun.

The adverbial pronoun ci

All languages have
homonyms
— that is, words that look and sound alike but have different meanings. For example,
sound
may mean “noise” or “stretch of water.” In Italian, the pronoun
ci
is similar: It can mean
us/to us,
but it's also an adverbial pronoun that can mean
here, there.

For example, if someone says
Sei andato agli Uffizi quest'estate?
(
Did you go to the Uffizi Museum this summer?
), you answer
No, ci sono andato l'estate scorsa
(
No, I went there last summer
). The
ci
stands for
agli Uffizi.

You can also use
ci
with the verb
essere
(
to be
) to mean
there is/there was
and
there are/there were.
You use the present indicative
c'è
(
there is
), or the imperfect indicative
c'era
, with a noun or name in the singular, and the present indicative
ci sono
(
there are
), or the imperfect indicative
c'erano
, with a noun or name in the plural.

C'è/ci sono
also can take the spelling
vi è/vi sono,
although you see that more in literature than in spoken language. However, if you do see
vi è/vi sono,
be careful not to confuse
vi
with the pronoun
you.

Here are some examples of the adverbial pronouns at work:

C'è molta neve in montagna.
(
There's a lot of snow in the mountains.
)

C'era una volta una bellissima principessa. . . .
(
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. . . .
)

You also can use
ci
as a pronoun referring to

Places already mentioned, with phrases such as
qui/lì
(
here
),
là
,
in quel posto
(
there; in/to that place
),
da/per/attraverso quel posto
(
through there/that place
)

Vieni spesso a Firenze? Sì, ci vengo ogni estate.
(
Do you come to Florence often? Yes, I come here every summer.
)

With special verbs having idiomatic meaning, such as
pensarci
(
to think about
),
vederci
(
to see
),
volerci
(
to take; to need
), and
crederci
(
to believe
)