Italian Language Blog

In Part 1 of this blog we looked at the ways in which personal pronouns are combined together when they precede a verb. Today I’m going to look at how and when to use the combined pronouns after a verb.

All the following cases have two main changes in common: 1. the fact that the combined pronouns are joined together to make one word, and 2. that they are directly attached to the verb. Let’s look at some practical examples. As in part 1, I’ve highlighted the indirect object and the reflexive pronouns in red, and the direct object pronouns in blue:

1. After an infinitive:

Durante la passeggiata abbiamo incontrato un cagnolino così bello, che ci è venuta la voglia di portarcelo a casa (during the walk we met such a beautiful puppy, that we felt like taking it home)

Mario: A Lucia per il suo compleanno ho regalato l’ultimo CD di Giorgia. Marco: Peccato, volevo regalarglielo io (Mario: I gave Lucia the latest CD by Giorgia for her birthday. Marco: What a pity, I wanted to give it to her myself)

I tuoi capelli sono troppo lunghi, dovresti tagliarteli (Your hair is too long, you should have it cut)

N.B. In modern Italian, when the infinitive is preceded by the verbs volere (want), dovere (must, have to), or potere (be able to), it’s common to put the combined pronouns before the verb:

instead of Peccato, volevo regalarglielo io (What a pity, I wanted to give it to her myself), we can say Peccato, glielo volevo regalare io

instead of dovresti tagliarteli (you should have it cut), we can say te li dovresti tagliare.

2. After a gerund (-ing ending):

“Ecco la bottiglia d’acqua” disse Luca porgendogliela (“Here’s the water bottle” said Luca handing it over to her/him)

Raccontandotelo mi sono liberata di un peso (By telling you about it I got it off my chest)

N.B. When the gerund is part of the present or past continuous the personal pronouns cannot be attached to the end but must instead precede the verb:

la bottiglia mi è caduta di mano mentre gliela stavo porgendo (the bottle fell from my hand while I was passing it to her/him)

3. After an imperative:

Fa molto freddo, va’ a prendere il cappello e mettitelo (It’s very cold, go and get your hat and put it on)

Ecco le chiavi, ridatemele non appena avete finito (here are the keys, give them back to me as soon as you have finished with them)

N.B. There’s a group of verbs that in the second person singular of the imperative are monosyllabic, i.e. da’ (give, from ‘dare’ = to give), di’ (say, from ‘dire’ = to say), fa’ (do/make, from ‘fare’ = to do or to make), sta’ (stay, from ‘stare’ = to stay), va’ (go, from ‘andare’ = to go). When the personal pronouns are joined to the end of these imperatives, the first letter of the pronoun is doubled, except for the pronoun ‘gli’ (to her / him) e.g.:

Mi serve la tua penna, dammela un attimo (I need your pen, give it to me a moment)

Dai, faccelo vedere! (Come on, let us see it!)

Vattene subito! (Go immediately away!) (From the emphatic form ‘andarsene’ = to go away)

Personal pronouns are always a confusing subject to master for students of Italian, so today I’m going to look at the combined personal pronouns using practical examples.

The combined pronouns normally precede the verb in the following order: first comes the unstressed form of the indirect personal pronouns (mi, ti, gli, ci, vi), or the reflexive pronoun (mi, ti, si, ci, vi), which is then followed by the direct object pronoun (lo, la, li, le), or the pronoun ‘ne’. Both the indirect pronouns and the reflexive pronouns change their vowel becoming me, te, se, glie, ce, ve. In the following examples I’ve highlighted the indirect or reflexive pronoun in red, and the direct object or ‘ne’ pronoun in blue:

Ti serve una penna? Te la presto io (Do you need a pen? I’ll lend it to you)

Hai fatto delle foto durante le vacanze? Me le fai vedere? (Did you take some pictures during your holidays? Will you show them to me?)

Non conoscete i Signori Rossi? Ecco, ve li presento (Don’t you know Mr and Mrs Rossi? Here, I’ll introduce them to you)

Il vino? Doveva portarlo Mario, ma se lo è scordato (from the reflexive verb ‘scordarsi’) (The wine? Mario was meant to bring it, but he forgot it)

Ti piacciono i miei capelli? Me li sono tagliati ieri (from the reflexive verb ‘tagliarsi’) (Do you like my hair? I had it cut yesterday)

Quante sedie servono? Ce ne servono ancora tre (How many chairs do we need? We still need three. Lit. Three of them are still needed to us)

N.B. The third person singular of the indirect pronoun behaves slightly differently from all the others when combined with another pronoun. First of all we only use the masculine form ‘gli’ (to him/her/it) for both the masculine and the feminine (which would normally be ‘le’). Secondly, ‘gli’ becomes ‘glie’ and is attached to the direct pronoun in the following way:

Hai visto la nuova macchina di Marco? Gliel’hanno regalata i suoi genitori per la laurea (Have you seen Marco’s new car? His parents gave it to him as a present for his graduation)

Questo è il pane per Maria. Glielo dai tu? (This is Maria’s bread. Will you give it to her?)

The pronoun ‘gli’ is also used in formal situations, e.g:  Vuole parlare col direttore? Certamente Signor Bianchi, glielo chiamo subito (You wish to talk to the director? Certainly Mr Bianchi, I’ll call him for you straight away)

Finally, there are situations in which the impersonal pronoun ‘si’ is also used. In this case the order is the following: 1. indirect or reflexive pronoun, 2. direct object pronoun, 3. si impersonale. In the following examples I’ve highlighted the impersonal si in green:

Te lo si legge in faccia (it’s written all over your face. Lit. ‘to you one reads it in your face’) Simona era molto sconvolta, glielo si leggeva in faccia (Simona was very upset, you could see it in her face)

Non ce lo si può permettere (‘we/one can’t afford it’. Lit. ‘to oneself one cannot allow it’) Andate ancora a Roma in macchina tutte le settimane? No, fra costo della benzina e pedaggio dell’autostrada non ce lo si può più permettere (Do you still drive to Rome every week? No, what with the cost of the fuel and the toll on the motorway it’s not affordable anymore)

In Part 2 I’ll be looking at how and when to use the combined pronouns after a verb.

What time is it? A simple question with many possible replies. Let’s start from the beginning.

We divide the clock into:

ore (fem. hours, singular un’ora, an/one hour)

minuti (masc. minutes, singular un minuto a/one minute)

secondi (masc. seconds, singular un secondo a/one second)

un quarto (masc. a quarter)

mezza (fem. half)

tre quarti (masc. three quarters)

Asking the time

We have three common ways of asking the time:

1. che ore sono? 2. che ora è? 3. mi sa dire l’ora? 1. and 2. are interchangeable and both mean ‘what time is it?’, whilst 3. is equivalent to ‘can you tell me the time?’

Telling the time

Although we can ask both che ore sono (literally what hours are they?) and che ora è (what hour is it?), when replying we only use the singular for: mezzogiorno (midday) mezzanotte (midnight) and l’una (one o’clock), hence:

è mezzogiorno (it’s midday), è mezzanotte (it’s midnight), è l’una (it’s one o’clock)

In all other cases we use the plural: sono le due (it’s two o’clock), sone le undici (it’s eleven o’clock)

we then add the fractions of an hour: e dieci (and ten), e un quarto (and a quarter), etc. Let’s have a look at a few examples.

Mi sa dire l’ora per favore?

Here are a few of the many possible replies that you might get when you ask ‘could you tell me the time please?’ including alternative ways of giving the same time:

è mezzogiorno/mezzanotte e mezza (it’s half past twelve midday/midnight)

sono le dodici e mezza (it’s half past twelve)

sono le cinque e quindici (it’s five fifteen)

sono le cinque e un quarto (it’s a quarter past five)

è l’una e tre quarti (it’s one forty five)

sono le due meno un quarto (it’s a quarter to two – lit. ‘they are two minus a quarter’)

Another way of saying ‘to…’

A common alternative way of saying ‘to…’, as in le due meno un quarto (‘a quarter to two’) is to use the verb mancare (to lack), e.g.:

manca un quarto alle due (it’s a quarter to two – lit. ‘it lacks a quarter until two’) or manca cinque alle otto (it’s five to eight).

However, if we want to say ‘it’s five minutes to eight’ we use the plural ‘mancano’ (they lack), e.g.: mancano cinque minuti alle otto (lit. ‘five minutes are lacking until eight’).

The twenty four hour clock

The twenty four hour clock is more formal, and is used for timetables, whether it’s a train timetable or the opening hours of a shop. The timetable is called l’orario.

Here are a couple of examples: Orario Apertura: Mattina dalle 9.00 alle 12.30 Pomeriggio dalle 15.30 alle 20.00 (Opening times: Morning from 9:00 until 12:30 Afternoon from 15:30 to 20:00)

L’autobus da Parma arriva alle sedici e venti (The bus from Parma arrives at sixteen twenty = 4:20 p.m.)

Now it’s time for you to have a go.

Translate the following replies to the question che ore sono? che ora è? or mi sa dire l’ora? into Italian:

1. it’s seven thirty five ________________

2. it’s a quarter past ten ________________

3. it’s ten to eleven ________________

4. it’s half past noon ________________

5. it’s nine thirty five (give two possible variations) ________________    ________________

6. it’s three forty (give three possible variations) ________________    ________________   ________________

… and the following timetable announcements (remember to use the 24 hour clock):

7. This shop closes at 7:30 p.m. Questo negozio chiude ________________

8. The next train for Pisa departs at 5:10 p.m. Il prossimo treno per Pisa parte ________________

9. The bus from Lucca arrives at 7:30 a.m. L’autobus da Lucca arriva ________________