Pronomi diretti e indiretti: come combinarli

Italian Language Lessons

Grammar, spelling, and usage

Combining Direct and Indirect Italian Pronouns

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There are many times when the same verb has both a direct object pronoun and indirect object pronoun. Usually, the indirect object pronoun precedes the direct object pronoun and the indirect object pronouns mi, ti, ci, and vi change to me, te, ce, and ve:

Renato porta il libro a me. (Renato brings the book to me.)

Renato me lo porta. (Renato brings it to me.)

Il professore insegna la lezione a voi. (The professor teaches the lesson to you.)

Il professore ve l’insegna. (The professor teaches you the lesson.)

For a complete chart of all the double object pronouns, see the table below.

DOUBLE OBJECT PRONOUNS

INDIRECT OBJECT

PRONOUN         LO         LA         LI         LE         NE

mi         me lo         me la         me li         me le         me ne

ti         te lo         te la         te li         te le         te ne

gli, le, Le         glielo         gliela         glieli         gliele         gliene

ci         ce lo         ce la         ce li         ce le         ce ne

vi         ve lo         ve la         ve li         ve le         ve ne

…loro         lo…loro         la…loro         li…loro         le…loro         ne…loro

Note the economy in words: gli, le, and Le become glie- before direct object pronouns and before ne, and combine with them to become one word.