{"id":11028,"date":"2016-02-16T16:51:57","date_gmt":"2016-02-16T15:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=11028"},"modified":"2019-05-28T13:03:32","modified_gmt":"2019-05-28T11:03:32","slug":"italian-direct-object-pronouns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/italian-direct-object-pronouns\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian Direct Object Pronouns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Le chiavi le hai?<\/strong> (Have you got the keys?)<\/span><\/p>\n

How many times have you come across an Italian construction similar to this example and asked yourself “why are there two le<\/strong>‘s in that sentence?” … “The keys the you have?” … WHAT THE ####!?!?<\/p>\n

Well, you’ll be relieved to hear that there is a totally logical explanation: in this type of construction le<\/strong> and lo<\/strong>, and their siblings la<\/strong> and li<\/strong> are not the article ‘the’<\/span>, even if they are spelt in exactly the same way, but … Pronomi Complemento Oggetto di Terza Persona<\/strong> = Third Person Direct Object Pronouns,\u00a0 which is an extremely complicated way of describing some very simple little words. Here are some practical examples of how we use them:<\/p>\n

Lo<\/strong><\/span> (masculine singular<\/em>) = him<\/span> or it<\/span>
\nLucia: \u201cConosci Giorgio?\u201d Mario: \u201cCerto, lo<\/span> conosco da quando eravamo bambini\u201d<\/strong> (Lucia: \u201cDo you know Giorgio?\u201d Mario: \u201cOf course, I\u2019ve known him<\/span> since we were children\u201d)
\nLucia: \u201cIl motore non funziona\u201d Mario: \u201cLo<\/span> aggiusto io\u201d<\/strong> (Lucia: \u201cThe motor is not working\u201d Mario: \u201cI\u2019ll fix it<\/span>\u201d)<\/p>\n

Li<\/strong><\/span> (masculine plural<\/em>) = them<\/span>
\nLucia: \u201cConosci Giorgio e Maria?\u201d Mario: \u201cCerto, li<\/span> conosco da quando eravamo bambini\u201d<\/strong> (Lucia: \u201cDo you know Giorgio and Maria?\u201d Mario: \u201cOf course, I\u2019ve known them<\/span> since we were children\u201d)
\nLucia: \u201cNon ci sono biscotti\u201d Mario: \u201cLi<\/span> compro io\u201d<\/strong> (Lucia: \u201cThere are no biscuits\u201d Mario: \u201cI\u2019ll buy them<\/span>\u201d)<\/p>\n

La<\/span> <\/strong>(feminine singular<\/em>) = her<\/span> or it<\/span>
\nMario: \u201cE\u2019 da tanto che non vedo Maria\u201d Lucia: \u201cLa<\/span> vedo spesso dal fruttivendolo\u201d<\/strong> (Mario: \u201cI haven\u2019t seen Maria for a long time\u201d Lucia: \u201cI often see her<\/span> at the greengrocers\u201d)
\nLucia: \u201cNon c\u2019\u00e8 pasta\u201d Mario: \u201cLa<\/span> compro io\u201d<\/strong> (Lucia: \u201cThere\u2019s no pasta” Mario: \u201cI\u2019ll buy it<\/span>\u201d)<\/p>\n

Le<\/strong> <\/span>(feminine plural<\/em>) = them<\/span>
\nMario: \u201cE\u2019 da tanto che non vedo n\u00e9 Maria n\u00e9 sua sorella\u201d Lucia: \u201cLe<\/span> vedo spesso dal fruttivendolo\u201d<\/strong> (Mario: \u201cI haven\u2019t seen either Maria or her sister for a long time\u201d Lucia: \u201cI often see them<\/span> at the greengrocers\u201d)
\nLucia: \u201cHai le chiavi?\u201d Mario: \u201cLe<\/span> ho in tasca\u201d<\/strong> (Lucia: \u201cHave you got the keys\u201d Mario: \u201cI’ve got them<\/span> in my pocket\u201d)<\/p>\n

\"HarryHoudini-1899\"<\/a>

Le chiavi le hai? (Photo: CC)<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

So far everything is nice and simple, no? Now let’s go back to that opening sentence: “Le chiavi le hai?”<\/strong> Why do we say “The keys have you got them?” Here’s how it works: in Italian, when we want to give more emphasis to a direct object (in this case le chiavi<\/strong>) we move it to the beginning of the sentence, however, we also have to insert the appropriate pronoun. But maybe that sounds more complicated than it really is. Let me illustrate it with a couple of comparative examples:<\/p>\n

\u201chai le chiavi?\u201d <\/strong>(have you got the keys?) vs le chiavi le<\/span> hai?\u201d <\/strong>(The keys … have you got them?)
\n<\/strong>\u201chai aggiustato il motore?\u201d<\/strong> (have you fixed the motor?)\u00a0vs\u00a0“il motore l<\/span>‘hai aggiustato\u201d <\/strong>(The motor … have you fixed it?)<\/p>\n

Be aware, however, that this is one of many aspects of colloquial Italian that you’ll only really learn by using it regularly ‘in country’.<\/p>\n

Finally, one last important grammatical note on the use of these pronouns:<\/p>\n

In the present perfect, the past participle changes in number and gender to agree with the direct object pronouns lo, li, la, <\/strong><\/span>and le<\/strong><\/span>. See also il participio passato<\/span>
\n<\/a><\/strong><\/span>Here are some examples:<\/p>\n

Lucia: “Hai le chiavi?” Mario: “L<\/span>e<\/span> ho mess<\/span>e<\/span> in tasca”<\/strong> (Lucia: “Have you got the keys?” Mario: “I’ve put them in my pocket”): messe<\/strong> is feminine plural<\/em>
\nLucia: \u201cNon ci sono biscotti\u201d Mario: \u201cLi<\/span> ho comprati<\/span> stamattina\u201d<\/strong> (Lucia: \u201cThere are no biscuits\u201d Mario: \u201cI bought them this morning\u201d): comprati<\/strong> is masculine plural<\/em>
\nMario: \u201cE\u2019 da tanto che non vedo Maria\u201d Lucia: \u201cL<\/span>‘ho vista<\/span> ieri dal fruttivendolo\u201d<\/strong> (Mario: \u201cI haven\u2019t seen Maria for a long time\u201d Lucia: \u201cI saw her yesterday at the greengrocers\u201d): vista<\/strong> is feminine singular<\/em>.<\/p>\n

For more information on how to use direct object pronouns with other personal pronouns, you can check out these two posts:
\nPronomi Combinati Part 1<\/strong><\/span><\/a>
\nPronomi Combinati Part 2<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Le chiavi le hai? (Have you got the keys?) How many times have you come across an Italian construction similar to this example and asked yourself “why are there two le‘s in that sentence?” … “The keys the you have?” … WHAT THE ####!?!? Well, you’ll be relieved to hear that there is a totally…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":11047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[342608,385991,385989,385990],"class_list":["post-11028","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-how-to-use-direct-object-pronouns-in-italian","tag-how-to-use-lo-la-li-le-in-italian","tag-italian-direct-object-pronouns","tag-pronomi-complemento-oggetto"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t