Personal pronouns are always a confusing subject to master for students of Italian, so today I\u2019m going to look at the combined personal pronouns using practical examples.<\/p>\n
The combined pronouns normally precede the verb in the following order: first comes the unstressed form of the indirect personal pronouns<\/span><\/strong><\/a> (mi, ti, gli, ci, vi<\/strong>),<\/span> or the reflexive pronoun<\/span><\/strong><\/a> (mi, ti, si, ci, vi<\/strong>),<\/span> which is then followed by the direct object pronoun<\/span><\/strong><\/a> (lo, la, li, le<\/strong>), or the<\/span> pronoun \u2018ne<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u2019. Both the indirect pronouns and the reflexive pronouns change their vowel becoming me, te, se, glie, ce, ve<\/strong>. In the following examples I\u2019ve highlighted the indirect or reflexive pronoun in red<\/span>, and the direct object or \u2018ne\u2019 pronoun in blu<\/span><\/span>e<\/span>:<\/span><\/p>\n Ti serve una penna? Te <\/span>la<\/span> presto io<\/strong> (Do you need a pen? I\u2019ll lend it to you)<\/p>\n Hai fatto delle foto durante le vacanze? Me<\/span> le<\/span> fai vedere?<\/strong> (Did you take some pictures during your holidays? Will you show them to me?)<\/p>\n Non conoscete i Signori Rossi? Ecco, ve<\/span> li<\/span> presento<\/strong> (Don\u2019t you know Mr and Mrs Rossi? Here, I\u2019ll introduce them to you)<\/p>\n Il vino? Doveva portarlo Mario, ma se<\/span> lo<\/span> \u00e8 scordato<\/strong> (from the reflexive verb \u2018scordarsi\u2019) (The wine? Mario was meant to bring it, but he forgot it)<\/p>\n Ti piacciono i miei capelli? Me<\/span> li <\/span>sono tagliati ieri<\/strong> (from the reflexive verb \u2018tagliarsi\u2019) (Do you like my hair? I had it cut yesterday)<\/p>\n Quante sedie servono? Ce<\/span> ne<\/span> servono ancora tre<\/strong> (How many chairs do we need? We still need three. Lit. Three of them are still needed to us<\/em>)<\/p>\n N.B. <\/strong>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 \u2018gli\u2019<\/strong> (to him\/her\/it) for both the masculine and the feminine (which would normally be \u2018le\u2019<\/strong>). Secondly, \u2018gli\u2019<\/strong> becomes \u2018glie\u2019<\/strong> and is attached to the direct pronoun in the following way:<\/p>\n Hai visto la nuova macchina di Marco? Glie<\/span>l\u2019<\/span>hanno regalata i suoi genitori per la laurea<\/strong> (Have you seen Marco\u2019s new car? His parents gave it to him as a present for his graduation)<\/p>\n Questo \u00e8 il pane per Maria. Glie<\/span>lo<\/span> dai tu?<\/strong> (This is Maria\u2019s bread. Will you give it to her?)<\/p>\n The pronoun \u2018gli\u2019<\/strong> is also used in formal situations, e.g:\u00a0 Vuole parlare col direttore? Certamente Signor Bianchi, glie<\/span>lo<\/span> chiamo subito <\/strong>(You wish to talk to the director? Certainly Mr Bianchi, I\u2019ll call him for you straight away)<\/p>\n Finally, there are situations in which the impersonal pronoun \u2018si\u2019<\/span><\/strong><\/a> 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\u2019ve highlighted the impersonal si in green<\/span>:<\/p>\n Te<\/span> lo<\/span> si<\/span> legge in faccia<\/strong> (it\u2019s written all over your face. Lit. \u2018to you one reads it in your face\u2019<\/em>) Simona era molto sconvolta, glie<\/span>lo<\/span> si<\/span> leggeva in faccia<\/strong> (Simona was very upset, you could see it in her face)<\/p>\n Non ce<\/span> lo<\/span> si<\/span> pu\u00f2 permettere<\/strong> (\u2018we\/one can\u2019t afford it\u2019. Lit. \u2018to oneself one cannot allow it\u2019<\/em>) Andate ancora a Roma in macchina tutte le settimane? No, fra costo della benzina e pedaggio dell\u2019autostrada non ce<\/span> lo<\/span> si <\/span>pu\u00f2 pi\u00f9 permettere<\/strong> (Do you still drive to Rome every week? No, what with the cost of the fuel and the toll on the motorway it\u2019s not affordable anymore)<\/p>\n