{"id":5533,"date":"2014-04-24T08:52:34","date_gmt":"2014-04-24T08:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=5533"},"modified":"2014-04-24T09:46:29","modified_gmt":"2014-04-24T09:46:29","slug":"fried-brains-how-to-use-italian-reflexive-verbs-in-the-past-tense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/fried-brains-how-to-use-italian-reflexive-verbs-in-the-past-tense\/","title":{"rendered":"Fried Brains – How to use Italian Reflexive Verbs in the Past Tense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Knowing how to use double pronouns in Italian is a task that makes you suffer from cervelli fritti<\/strong> (fried brains), as one of our readers so nicely put it. Therefore, it\u2019s important to keep revisiting the topic. Suppose you wanted to reply to the question: \u201cTi sei ricordato di comperare il pane?\u201d <\/strong>(\u2018Did you remember to buy the bread?\u2019) with \u201cYes, of course I remembered it\u201d. Well, in this case you\u2019d need to use a double personal pronoun<\/u>: S\u00ec, certo che me lo<\/u> sono ricordato\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, today\u2019s focus is going to be on the use of verbi riflessivi <\/strong>(reflexive verbs) conjugated in the passato prossimo<\/strong> (present perfect or past tense) combined with i pronomi oggetto diretto<\/strong> (direct object pronouns). <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s first revise <\/strong>the direct object pronouns<\/strong><\/font>:<\/p>\n

lo<\/strong> <\/font>(masculine singular) = him\/it, la<\/font><\/strong> (feminine singular) = her\/it, li<\/font><\/strong> (masculine plural) = them, le<\/font><\/strong> (feminine plural) = them<\/p>\n

Now for the reflexive pronouns<\/strong><\/font>:<\/p>\n

mi<\/font><\/strong> (first person singular) = myself, ti<\/font><\/strong> (second person singular) = yourself, si<\/font><\/strong> (third person singular) = himself\/herself\/itself, ci<\/font><\/strong> (first person plural) = ourselves, vi<\/font><\/strong> (second person plural) = yourselves, si<\/font><\/strong> (third person plural) = themselves<\/p>\n

Here are some practical examples of how to combine these two in the past tense. Remember that the reflexive pronoun changes its ending from \u2013i<\/strong> to \u2013e<\/strong> when it precedes the direct object pronoun, e.g. ti<\/font><\/strong> becomes te<\/font><\/strong>, ci<\/font><\/strong> becomes ce<\/font><\/strong> and so on:<\/p>\n

eccoti il gelato: te<\/font> lo<\/font> sei proprio meritato<\/strong> = here\u2019s your ice cream: you really earned it – from the reflexive verb meritarsi<\/strong> = to deserve\/earn<\/p>\n

eccovi il gelato: ve<\/font> lo<\/font> siete proprio meritato<\/strong> = here\u2019s your ice cream: you really earned it<\/p>\n

la chiave? Accidenti, ce<\/font> la<\/font> siamo dimenticata<\/strong>= the key? oh dear we forgot it – from the reflexive verb dimenticarsi<\/strong> = to forget<\/p>\n

la chiave? Accidenti, se<\/font> la<\/font> sono dimenticata<\/strong> = the key? oh dear, they forgot it <\/p>\n

ti piacciono i miei nuovi orecchini? Me<\/font> li<\/font> sono comprati ieri<\/strong> = do you like my new earrings? I bought them yesterday – from the reflexive form of the verb comprare<\/strong> \u2013 comprarsi<\/strong> = to buy for oneself<\/p>\n

ti piacciono i nuovi orecchini di Laura? Se<\/font> li<\/font> \u00e8 comprati ieri<\/strong> = do you like Laura\u2019s new earrings? She bought them yesterday<\/p>\n

ti sei lavato le mani? S\u00ec, me<\/font> le<\/font> sono gi\u00e0 lavate<\/strong> = have you washed your hands? Yes, I\u2019ve already washed them – from the reflexive form of the verb lavare – lavarsi<\/strong> = to wash oneself<\/p>\n

Giorgio si \u00e8 lavato le mani? S\u00ec, se<\/font> le<\/font> \u00e8 gi\u00e0 lavate<\/strong> = has Giorgio washed his hands? Yes, he\u2019s already washed them<\/p>\n

Another important thing to note is that the direct object pronoun influences the ending of the past participle: me lo<\/font> sono dimenticato<\/font><\/strong> (il pane<\/strong>, masc.<\/em>), me la<\/font> sono dimenticata<\/font><\/strong> (la chiave<\/strong>, fem.<\/em>). <\/p>\n

You can find out more about the influence of the direct object pronoun on the the past participle by clicking HERE<\/font><\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

You can find out more about the reflexive verbs by clicking HERE<\/strong><\/font><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Now don\u2019t worry if this seems a bit complicated \u2026 it is. In fact it\u2019s quite difficult to get the hang of it unless you are speaking Italian on a regular basis with native speakers. But if you stick with it ce la farete<\/strong> (you\u2019ll get there)!<\/p>\n

If anyone is interested, I can follow up this post with my mother\u2019s recipe for fried brains \"Winking<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Knowing how to use double pronouns in Italian is a task that makes you suffer from cervelli fritti (fried brains), as one of our readers so nicely put it. Therefore, it\u2019s important to keep revisiting the topic. Suppose you wanted to reply to the question: \u201cTi sei ricordato di comperare il pane?\u201d (\u2018Did you remember…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":5536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[342608,342964,342400],"class_list":["post-5533","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-how-to-use-direct-object-pronouns-in-italian","tag-how-to-use-double-personal-pronouns-in-italian","tag-how-to-use-italian-reflexive-verbs-in-the-past-tense"],"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