Personal pronouns in Italian. Pronouns in Italian (personal and possessive)

Pronouns are a part of speech devoid of their own lexical meaning; they do not name objects, but only point to them, replace them. There are the following types of pronouns:

Personal pronouns

Among personal pronouns, pronouns that act as subjects and pronouns that are used as direct and indirect objects are distinguished, the latter, in turn, being divided into stressed and unstressed.

Personal pronouns as subjects.

In modern Italian, the following pronouns can act as subjects:

io	I	noi	We
tu	You	voi	You
		Voi	You
Lei	You	Loro	You (m. and. f. r.)
egli	He	essi	they (m.p.)
esso
lui
ella	she	essay	they (female)
essa
lei
		loro	they (m. and. f. r.)

Personal pronouns, which act as the subject of a verb, are usually omitted in Italian. The person indicator is contained in the ending of the verb itself. Exceptions are cases when there is a need to clarify the person with formally matching forms of the verb (this mainly applies to forms of the subjunctive mood). For example:

Parli italiano molto bene.—You speak Italian very well.

Che lui (lei) venga domani!- Let him (she) come tomorrow!

Se io (tu) potessi farlo!- If only I (you) could do it.

Personal pronouns are certainly placed only when logical stress falls on them, as well as with words such as anche(Also), neanche, nemmeno, neppure(also not, not even) and stesso(himself, most):

Io parlo italiano e parli tedesco.- I speak Italian, and you speak German.

Anch'io lo so.- I know that too.

Non lo sa nemmeno lui.“Even he doesn’t know this.”

Neppure noi lo capiamo.“Even we don’t understand this.”

Neanche lui vuole partire.“Even he doesn’t want to leave.”

L'ha detto lui stesso.- He said that himself.

L'hanno desico loro stessi.- They decided it themselves.

Egli, ella are used only in relation to people esso, essa, essi, essay- both in relation to people and to designate inanimate objects.

Lui, lei, loro are used as the subject when logical highlighting the subject and when inverting:

Io parlo e lui ascolta.- I speak, and he listens.

Parla lei.- She says.

Lei - singular form of politeness

Unlike the Russian language, the form of politeness when addressing one person in Italian is the form Lei(You), which is a 3rd person singular pronoun. Consequently Lei, acting as a subject, requires 3rd person singular verb forms, for example:

Signore, Lei parla italiano?— Signor, do you speak Italian?

Signora, Lei? di Roma?— Signora, are you from Rome?

Although the form Lei and goes back to the feminine pronoun ( lei), when addressing representatives of the masculine gender, the agreement of participles and adjectives is in the masculine gender. Compare:

Lei, signore? italiano?- Are you Italian, sir?

Signor Bianchi, Lei ? riuscito a vedere lo spettacolo?— Signor Bianchi, did you manage to watch the performance?

Lei signorina, ? riuscita a vedere lo spettacolo?— Did you manage to watch the performance, signora?

Dottore, Lei? arrivato martedi?— Doctor, did you arrive on Tuesday?

It should be noted that calling by name in combination with the form on Lei(in relationships with subordinates) makes the conversation more pleasant, but allows you to maintain distance. Application form for Lei with colleagues and close acquaintances she is somewhat aloof in nature; in these cases she often prefers the “you” form.

Form voi(you) is a 2nd person plural pronoun, and also the most common form of politeness when referring to more than one person. For example:

Voi, signori siete italiani?“Are you, gentlemen, Italians?”

Unlike the Russian language, the form of politeness in voi in relation to one person in modern Italian is practically replaced by the form Lei.

Loro - plural form of politeness

In addition to the form of address that coincides with the Russian one, voi(you) to many people, in Italian there is another, more refined form of politeness in Loro, which is a pronoun of the 3rd person plural and accordingly agrees with verbs of the 3rd person plural (the nominal part of the predicate also agrees in gender). For example:

Loro, signori, sono italiani?“Are you, gentlemen, Italians?”

Loro, signorine, sono italiane?- Are you ladies Italian?

However, if when politely addressing one person the most common form is Lei, then in the plural it most often corresponds to the form on voi, since the form on Loro is considered more ceremonial, refined, and of a solemn and official nature.

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This article opens a big new section - pronouns in Italian. There are a large number of pronouns in the Italian language. Sometimes, or rather in most cases, those who are just starting to study Italian find it difficult to understand all their diversity and choose the right pronoun in a given situation. Let's look at the use of pronouns in Italian and try to organize them. Let's start with personal pronouns in Italian.

Personal pronouns in Italian

			me - me, me
			te - to you, you
			lui - to him, him
			lei - to her, her
			noi - to us, us
			voi - to you, you
			essi, esso, loro - to them, theirs
Lei - You (singular)	La> - You (units)	Le - To you (singular)	Lei - To you, you (singular)
Loro - You (plural)	Li - you (plural)	Loro - To you (plural)	Loro - To you, you (plural)

It should be noted that in Italian there are a large number of pronouns YOU: voi, Lei, Loro.

Lei is the most common polite form of address to strangers and unfamiliar persons.

Loro is a polite form that is used when addressing several people, provided that everyone is addressed with “you”. The Loro form of politeness has almost fallen into disuse because it is considered too ceremonious.

Note:

Loro and Lei conjugate with third person verb forms

Voi can indicate either singular or plural, but in modern Italian it is almost never used when referring to one person. In the plural, voi is used when addressing several persons as “you”.

Note:

In modern Italian, the pronoun voi has replaced Loro and can be used when addressing several people with “you”:

a sgambare così non ce la posso con voi! - I can’t keep up with you!

Possessive pronouns in Italian

Possessive pronouns in Italian have the properties of adjectives and are attached to articles. Possessive pronouns answer the questions: whose?, whose?, whose?

Masculine (singular)	Feminine (singular)	Masculine (plural)	Feminine (plural)
il mio - mine	la mia – mine	i mei – mine	le mie - mine
il tuo - yours	la tua - yours	i tuoi - yours	le sue - yours
il suo - his, her	la sua - his, her	i suoi - his, her	le sue - him, her
	la Sua - Yours	i Suoi - yours	le Sue - Yours
il nostro - ours	la nostra - ours	i nostri - ours	le nostre - ours
il vostro - them	la vostra - yours	i vostri - yours	le vostre - yours
il loro - Yours
	la Loro - Yours	i Loro - Yours	le Loro - Yours

Note:

There are cases when articles There are no before possessive pronouns in Italian:

If we are talking about household items, personal items, if the possessive pronoun follows the noun (otherwise the article is retained):

Ci sono molte cose in camera sua (= nella sua camera) – there are a lot of things in his room

If we are talking about close relatives, but there are some exceptions:

1. with the words babbo, mamma:

la sua mamma - her mother

2. when additional characteristics are used with the name of a relative:

la mia sorella maggiore - my older sister

3. if the words that are called relative are used in the plural:

le nostre figlie – our daughters

4. with the possessive pronoun loro:

il loro cugino – their cousins

5. in a diminutive meaning or together with jargon:

la sua sorellina - his little sister

il tuo fratellone - your brother, bro

In the next article we will continue to study

Pronouns in Italian

Personal pronouns

Russian	Italian	Russian	Italian
I	io	We	noi
You	tu	You	voi
He	lui	They	loro
she	lei
it	there is no neuter gender in Italian
You (polite form)	Lei

Please note that the polite form in Italian is the same as the word “she” (lei), only written with a capital letter (Lei)
lei parla (she speaks), Lei parla (you speak)

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns for singular nouns
Personal pronoun	masculine	example	feminine	example
io	mi o	mio padre (my father)	mi a	mia madre (my mother)
tu	tu o	tuo marito (your husband)	tu a	tua moglie (your wife)
lui, lei, lei	su o	suo figlio (his son, her son)	su a	sua figlia (his daughter, her daughter)
noi	nostr o	nostro fratello (our brother)	nostr a	nostra sorella (our sister)
voi	vostr o	vostro nonno (your grandfather)	vostr a	vostra nonna (your grandmother)
loro	loro	loro cugino (their cousin)	loro	loro cugina (their cousin)
Possessive pronouns for plural nouns
io	mi ei	miei fratelli (my brothers)	mi e	mie sorelle (my sisters)
tu	tu oi	tuoi nipoti (your grandchildren, your nephews)	tu e	tue nipote (your granddaughters, your nieces)
lui, lei, lei	su oi	suoi zii (his, hers, your uncles)	su e	sue zie (his, hers, your aunts)
noi	nostri	nostri padri (our fathers)	nostre	nostre madri (our mothers)
voi	vostri	vostri nonni (your grandfathers)	vostre	vostre nonne (your grandmothers)
loro	loro	loro fratelli (their brothers)	loro	loro sorelle (their sisters)

Please note that the “gender characteristics” of possessive pronouns are nouns that belong, and not to which something belongs, so you need to look at the gender of the thing that belongs and put the appropriate pronoun, without paying attention to the owner of this thing. Whether it’s a man or a woman, it doesn’t matter, it’s still suo figlio (this man or woman’s son) or sua figlia (this woman or this man’s daughter), and we find out who it is, a man or a woman, by the context.

Another difficulty is that the gender of these nouns belonging to someone must also be known in the plural

in Russian the same:

my brothers - my sisters, yours brothers - yours sisters, our brothers - our sisters

and in Italian

miei fratelli - mie sorelle, vostri fratelli - vostre sorelle, nostri fratelli - nostre sorelle

The only good thing is that any Russian possessive “their” (some say “ikhniy”, “ikhnyaya”, “ikhnee”) in Italian will be “loro”, which also means “they” and does not depend on the gender that belongs to , nor from the kind to whom it belongs. As in Russian.

loro famiglia - their family
loro sorella - their sister
loro sorelle - their sisters
loro fratello - their brother
loro fratelli - their brothers

And one more table, although it partially copies the first one, it clearly shows how the plural number of possessive pronouns is formed, knowing the singular number of possessive pronouns.

Masculine
Singular	Plural	Translation
mi o	mie i	mine (masculine nouns)
tu o	tuo i	yours (masculine nouns)
su o	suo i	her, him (masculine nouns)
nostr o	nostr i	ours (masculine nouns)
vostr o	vostr i	yours (masculine nouns)
Feminine
mia	mi e	my (feminine nouns)
tua	tu e	yours (feminine nouns)
sua	su e	her, him (feminine nouns)
nostra	nostr e	ours (feminine nouns)
vostra	vostr e	yours (feminine nouns)

All masculine singular possessive pronouns end in -o. In the plural, this ending -o becomes -i (except for “loro”), and in the first person the letter -e (miei) appears in the middle to avoid two consecutive “i” letters.

All singular feminine possessive pronouns end in -a (except “loro” (them)). In the plural, this ending -a becomes -e.

But the possessive pronouns “loro” (them) in both masculine and feminine and singular and plural do not change.

Personal pronouns as direct objects

Now let's look at how personal pronouns change when they become objects (Russian accusative case) without a preposition, that is, personal pronouns in the function of direct object. Commonly used unstressed pronouns (see table)

Subject	Object (unstressed pronoun)	Example
io (I)	mi (me)	mi ascolti (are you listening to me)
tu (you)	ti (you)	non ti amo (I don't love you)
lui (he)	lo (him)	lo vede (she sees him)
lei (she)	la (her)	la capisco (I understand her)
Lei (You)	La (you)	La sento (I hear you)
noi (we)	ci (us)	ci domandi (you are asking us)
voi (you)	vi (you)	vi dico (I'm telling you)
loro (they)	masculine
	li (them, men)	non li vedo (I don't see them (men))
	feminine
	le (them, women)	le vedo (I see them (women))

Attention! Personal pronouns that are subjects are not only possible, but also should be removed from your speech if at the end of the verb it is clear who the subject is. Just as in Russian you can say “I love you” and “I love you,” so in Italian you can say “Io ti amo” and “Ti amo,” but the second option is preferable, although both are correct. That is why in the above table the pronouns - subjects are given in square brackets, which in this case mean “optional”.

Note that the pronoun “loro”, which in the “accusative case” or “objective case” depends on the gender of these nouns, by which we mean “them”. If they are all feminine, then "their" will be "le", but if any of them is male, then "their" will be "li".

The pronoun "lo" (his) can mean "it"

Non lo so (I don't know that)

Unstressed pronouns in the 3rd person singular before a vowel and “h” take l’ (lo ho/la ho=l’ho)

L'ho vista (I saw her yesterday)
Guardo la città e l’ammiro (la ammiro) (I see the city and admire it)
L'ho incontrata ieri (I met her yesterday)

Let's look at how pronouns change in the “objective case” with a preposition (I say With him, he is coming co to me). These are the so-called drums pronouns.

Subject	Object (stressed pronoun)	Example
io (I)	me (me)	parli con me (you are talking to me)
tu (you)	te (you)	vado da te (I'm coming to you)
lui (he)	lui (him)	parla con lui (she speaks to him)
lei (she)	lei (her)	faccio colazione con lei (I have breakfast with her)
Lei (You)	Lei (you)	parlo con Lei (I am talking to you)
noi (we)	noi (us)	andate senza noi (you go without us)
voi (you)	voi (you)	parlo con voi (I'm talking to you)
loro (you)	loro (you)	viaggio con loro (I travel with them)

As you can see, the changes are only in the first and second person singular ( io changes to m e, a tu changes to te):

io-vedi mi— parli con me(I - see me - talk to me)
tu-vedo ti—parlo con te(You - I see you - I speak to you)

lui-vedo lo—parlo con lui (He - I see him - I talk to him)
lei-vedo la—parlo con lei (She - I see her - I talk to her)

If a pronoun is preceded by a preposition, the stressed pronoun is always used. In addition, stressed pronouns serve to highlight the pronoun

la vedo spesso (I see her often) - unstressed pronoun
vedo spesso lei(I see her often (not him)) - stressed pronoun

Please note that the unstressed pronoun comes before the predicate, and the stressed pronoun comes after the predicate.

After the words secondo, in comparisons after di, come, quanto and in exclamatory sentences after the words beato, felice, povero, the pronoun is in the stressed form

Secondo Lei...(in your opinion)
Venite al teatro con me? (Will you go to the theater with me?)
una ragazza come te. (a girl like you)
Lei è più bassa di lui(She's shorter than him)
Beato te! (You are lucky)

Personal pronouns as indirect objects

Pronouns in the function of indirect object most often correspond to the Russian dative case

	unstressed form	percussion form	Translation
io	mi	a me	to me
tu	ti	a te	you
lui	gli	a lui	to him
lei	le	a lei	to her
Lei	Le	aLei	To you
noi	ci	a noi	us
voi	vi	a voi	to you
loro	loro	a loro	them

As you can see, the difference between unstressed pronouns in direct and indirect objects is only in the third person singular and plural, and the stressed form of the indirect object differs from the stressed form of the direct object only in the presence of the preposition “a”.

mi rispondi (You answer me.)
ti do questo libro (I give you this book)
gli rispondiamo (We answer him)
le rispondete (You answer her)

Che cosa regali a Pia? (What will you give Pia?)
le regalo un libro (I will give her a book)

Scusi, Le dà fastidio il fumo? (Sorry, it doesn't bother you that I smoke)

Hai telefonato a Gino? (Did you call Gino?)
Si, gli ho telefonato (Yes, I called him)

All personal pronouns in the indirect object in the unstressed form come before the predicate in the sentence, but “loro” (them) always comes after the predicate

Rispondi loro subito (You answer them)

Stressed forms are used for semantic emphasis and are placed at the beginning or end of a sentence

A noi non pensi mai. ( About Us you never think)

Sometimes verbs have indirect objects in Italian corresponding to direct objects in Russian and vice versa:

Lo aiuto (I will help him)
la segua (I follow her)
suona la chitarra (She plays the guitar)
porto rispetto a Paolo. (I respect Paolo)

Reflexive pronouns

Such pronouns are used with reflexive verbs

Personal pronoun	Reflexive pronoun	Example
io	mi	mi alzo (I rise)
tu	ti	ti svegli (you wake up)
lui, lei, lei	si	si trova (he is located)
noi	ci	ci addormentiamo (we fall asleep)
voi	vi	vi chiamate (your name)
loro	si	si lavano (they wash themselves)

All reflexive pronouns do not have a stressed form, except for one pronoun “si”, which in the stressed form turns into “ se«

Pensa solo a sé stesso (He thinks only of himself)

Be sure to watch the video lesson on this topic BEFORE you start reading the text. The topic in the video is explained very simply - this will remove your fear of the topic and save time on studying.

Pronouns (Pronomi) do not point to objects, but replace them. There are several types of pronouns in Italian.

Personal pronouns. Pronomi personali

Personal pronouns are not usually used in Italian. That is, when we talk about ourselves or someone else, it is clear from the ending of the verb who is performing the action.

For example:

Vado al lavoro. - I go to work.

Although there are exceptions, that is, cases when it is necessary to clarify who is performing the action. This is only when the forms of the endings are the same in all persons (this mainly applies to forms of the subjunctive mood Il Congiuntivo presente / imperfetto).

For example:

Parli italiano molto bene. – You speak Italian very well.
Che lui (lei) venga domani! – Let him (she) come tomorrow!
Se io (tu) potessi farlo! – If only I (you) could do it!

Personal pronouns are necessarily placed only when logical stress falls on them, as well as with words such as anche (also), neanche, nemmeno, neppure (also not, not even) and stesso (himself, most):

Io parlo italiano e tu parli tedesco. – I speak Italian, and you speak German.
Anch"io ti amo. – I love you too.
Non lo sa nemmeno lui. – Even he doesn't know this.
Neppure noi lo capiamo. – Even we don't understand this.
Neanche lui vuole partire. – Even he doesn't want to leave.
L "ha detto lui stesso. – He said it himself.
L"hanno deciso loro stessi. – They decided it themselves.

Particles. Particelle

ci (there), ne (them)

Vai a Roma? Sì, ci vado domani. – Are you going to Rome? Yes, I'm coming there Tomorrow.
Andate anche voi alla festa? No, non ci andiamo perché non abbiamo ricevuto un invito. – And will you also go to the holiday? No, us there we won't go because we didn't receive an invitation.
Quanti panini vuole? Ne vorrei due. – How many sandwiches do you need? (How many sandwiches do you want?) Two, please. (I would their I wanted two.)
Sai niente delle elezioni? No, non ne so niente. – You don't know anything about elections? No, I about them(about this) I don’t know anything.

Indefinite pronouns. Pronomi indefiniti

qualcosa something/something
qualcuno – somebody/anyone
niente - nothing
nulla - nothing
ognuno – everyone

Devo comprare qualcosa da mangiare. – I have to buy something to eat.
Qualcuno è entrato in casa mia. – Someone entered my house.
Non c"è niente / nulla da mangiare. – There is nothing to eat. / There is nothing to eat.
Ognuno può fare quello che vuole. – Everyone can do what they want.

Demonstrative pronouns. Pronomi dimostrativi

questo – this / this
quello – that / that
quelli – those (male)
questa – this
quella – that
quelle – those (feminine)

Questo è il mio amico. - This is my friend.
Quella pizza non mi piace. – I don't like that pizza.

Personal pronouns are divided into pronouns that act as a subject, and pronouns that are used as a direct and indirect object. The latter, in turn, are divided into shock and unstressed.

In Italian, the following pronouns can act as subjects:

io		noi	We
tu	You	voi	You
		Voi	You
Lei	You	Loro	You (masculine and feminine)
egli	He	essi	they (masculine)
esso
lui
ella	she	essay	they (feminine)
essa
lei
		loro	they (masculine and feminine)

If personal pronouns act as the subject of a verb, then in Italian they are usually omitted. In this case, the person indicator is contained at the end of the verb itself.

The exception is when it is necessary to clarify the person with formally matching forms of the verb. This applies mainly to forms of the subjunctive mood:

Parli italiano molto bene. — You speak Italian very well.

Che lui (lei) venga domani! — Let him (she) come tomorrow!

Se io (tu) potessi farlo! — If only I (you) could do it.

Personal pronouns are necessarily placed only when logical stress falls on them, as well as with words such as anche(Also), neanche, nemmeno, neppure(also not, not even) and stesso(himself, most):

Io parlo italiano e parli tedesco. — I speak Italian, and you speak German.

Anch"io lo so. — I know that too.

Neppure noi lo capiamo. — Even we don't understand this.

Neanche lui vuole partire. — Even he doesn't want to leave.

L"hanno desico loro stessi. — They decided it themselves.

Personal pronouns egli, ella are used only in relation to people, and esso, essa, essi, essay- both in relation to people and to designate inanimate objects.

Lui, lei, loro used as a subject during inversion to logically highlight the subject:

Io parlo e lui ascolta. — I speak and he listens.

Parla lei. — She says.

Lei- singular form of politeness.

In Italian, when addressing one person, the form of politeness is the 3rd person singular pronoun Lei(You). This pronoun requires a verb in the 3rd person singular as a subject:

Signore, Lei parla italiano? — Signor, do you speak Italian?

Signora, Lei è di Roma? — Signora, are you from Rome?

Lei, signore è italiano? — Are you, sir, Italian?

Signor Bianchi, Lei è riuscito a vedere lo spettacolo? — Signor Bianchi, did you manage to watch the performance?

Lei signorina, è riuscita a vedere lo spettacolo? — Did you manage to watch the performance, signora?

Dottore, Lei è arrivato martedi? — Doctor, did you arrive on Tuesday?

Form voi(you) is the most common form of politeness towards more than one person:

Voi, signori siete italiani? — Are you, gentlemen, Italians?

Politeness pronoun form voi can be used in relation to one person, but in modern Italian it is practically replaced by the form Lei.

Loro- plural form of politeness.

In addition to the form of addressing many people on voi(you), in Italian there is another, more refined form of politeness in Loro, which is a 3rd person plural pronoun. This form is considered the most ceremonial, having a solemn and official character:

Loro, signori, sono italiani?“Are you, gentlemen, Italians?”

Loro, signorine, sono italiane?- Are you ladies Italian?

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