Italian Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns
Learn when to use lo, la, li, le vs. gli and le in Italian — with clear tables, example sentences, and the one test that removes all doubt.
You know how to conjugate verbs. You can build a sentence. Then someone says "Glielo dico domani" and you wonder if Italian has secretly invented new words while you were not looking. It has not — those are just two object pronouns squeezed together. Object pronouns are the small words that replace nouns to avoid repetition: instead of saying "I bought the book and I read the book", you say "I bought it and I read it". In Italian, these little words follow strict rules about their form and their position in the sentence. This guide breaks it all down step by step.
What Is an Object Pronoun?
Every action involves a verb, and often a noun that receives the action. That noun is the object. When you replace it with a pronoun, you get an object pronoun. Italian has two types:
- Direct object pronouns replace nouns that receive the action directly, with no preposition between the verb and the noun. Ask: Chi? / Che cosa? (Who? / What?)
- Indirect object pronouns replace nouns introduced by the preposition a (to/for). Ask: A chi? / A che cosa? (To whom? / For what?)
Vedo Marco. → Lo vedo.
I see Marco. → I see him.
"Chi vedo?" — Marco. Direct object, no preposition. Use a direct pronoun.
Scrivo a Marco. → Gli scrivo.
I write to Marco. → I write to him.
"A chi scrivo?" — a Marco. Indirect object, introduced by "a". Use an indirect pronoun.
The simplest way to tell them apart: if you can ask "A chi?" (To whom?) and get your answer, you need an indirect pronoun. If the answer comes from "Chi?" or "Che cosa?" alone, you need a direct pronoun.
Direct Object Pronouns (Pronomi Diretti)
Here is the full set of Italian direct object pronouns. The first and second person forms — mi, ti, ci, vi — are the same as their reflexive counterparts. The third person forms — lo, la, li, le — are where the gender and number of the replaced noun matter.
| Person | Pronoun | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | mi | me | Mi chiami stasera? (Will you call me tonight?) |
| 2nd singular | ti | you | Ti aspetto fuori. (I'll wait for you outside.) |
| 3rd singular (m.) | lo | him / it (m.) | Lo conosco bene. (I know him well.) |
| 3rd singular (f.) | la | her / it (f.) | La vedo ogni giorno. (I see her every day.) |
| 1st plural | ci | us | Ci invitano sempre. (They always invite us.) |
| 2nd plural | vi | you (all) | Vi chiamo dopo. (I'll call you all later.) |
| 3rd plural (m.) | li | them (m.) | Li ho comprati ieri. (I bought them yesterday.) |
| 3rd plural (f.) | le | them (f.) | Le ho lette tutte. (I've read them all.) |
Lo and la can refer to people or things, as long as the gender matches the noun they replace. "Il libro" (masculine) → lo; "la porta" (feminine) → la.
Elision: lo and la Before a Vowel
Lo and la drop their vowel and become l' when the following word begins with a vowel or a silent h. The apostrophe signals the dropped vowel. This makes speech flow more naturally and avoids an awkward pause between two vowel sounds.
Lo apro. → L'apro.
I open it.
Lo becomes l' before the vowel "a" in apro.
La amo. → L'amo.
I love her.
Lo hanno visto. → L'hanno visto.
They saw him.
Hanno begins with a silent h, so elision still applies.
Placement: Before or After the Verb?
The standard rule is that direct object pronouns go immediately before the conjugated verb. There are a few situations where they attach to the end of the verb instead:
- Infinitive: The pronoun attaches to the infinitive after dropping its final -e. Voglio vederlo. (I want to see it.)
- Gerund: The pronoun attaches to the end. Vedendola, ho sorriso. (Seeing her, I smiled.)
- Affirmative imperative (tu, noi, voi): Attach to the end of the verb. Chiamalo! (Call him!). Note: the formal imperative (Lei) keeps the pronoun before the verb.
Non lo vedo. / Lo vedo.
I don't see him. / I see him.
With a normal conjugated verb, the pronoun goes before, whether negative or affirmative.
Devo comprarlo. / Lo devo comprare.
I need to buy it.
With a modal verb + infinitive, both positions are correct: attach to the infinitive, or move before the modal.
Past Participle Agreement in the Passato Prossimo
This is one of the trickiest — and most important — rules for direct object pronouns. When you use a third-person direct pronoun (lo, la, li, le, or l') in the passato prossimo, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the pronoun. Think of the pronoun as pulling the participle toward itself.
| Pronoun | Gender/Number | Participle ending | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| lo / l' | masc. singular | -o | L'ho comprato. (I bought it / him.) |
| la / l' | fem. singular | -a | L'ho comprata. (I bought it / her.) |
| li | masc. plural | -i | Li ho comprati. (I bought them.) |
| le | fem. plural | -e | Le ho comprate. (I bought them.) |
Ho visto Maria ieri. → L'ho vista ieri.
I saw Maria yesterday. → I saw her yesterday.
Maria is feminine singular → la → l' (before ho) → past participle becomes vista.
Abbiamo mangiato le fragole. → Le abbiamo mangiate.
We ate the strawberries. → We ate them.
Le fragole is feminine plural → le → past participle becomes mangiate.
Agreement is mandatory with lo, la, li, le, and l'. With mi, ti, ci, and vi, agreement is optional in modern Italian — you will hear both "mi ha chiamato" and "mi ha chiamata", and both are acceptable.
Indirect Object Pronouns (Pronomi Indiretti)
Indirect object pronouns replace a noun introduced by a. Most of their forms overlap with the direct set — but the third person is where they differ, and this is where learners often get confused.
| Person | Pronoun | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | mi | to/for me | Mi ha scritto una lettera. (He wrote me a letter.) |
| 2nd singular | ti | to/for you | Ti mando un messaggio. (I'll send you a message.) |
| 3rd singular (m.) | gli | to/for him | Gli ho detto la verità. (I told him the truth.) |
| 3rd singular (f.) | le | to/for her | Le ho chiesto un favore. (I asked her a favour.) |
| 1st plural | ci | to/for us | Ci ha offerto da bere. (He offered us a drink.) |
| 2nd plural | vi | to/for you (all) | Vi spiego subito. (I'll explain to you all right away.) |
| 3rd plural | gli | to/for them | Gli telefono domani. (I'll call them tomorrow.) |
Formally, "to them" is loro and it goes after the verb ("Telefono loro domani"). In modern spoken and written Italian, gli has almost entirely replaced loro for the plural indirect, and gli before the verb is now the standard form you will encounter and use.
Verbs That Always Take an Indirect Object
Some Italian verbs are always followed by a + person, which means they always need an indirect object pronoun. Many of these are the same verbs that take a direct object in English — which is a frequent source of errors. The list below covers the most common ones:
| Italian verb | English | Example with pronoun |
|---|---|---|
| dire a | to tell / say to | Gli dico tutto. (I'll tell him everything.) |
| dare a | to give to | Le do il libro. (I give her the book.) |
| scrivere a | to write to | Gli scrivo spesso. (I write to him often.) |
| chiedere a | to ask | Le chiedo il numero. (I ask her for the number.) |
| rispondere a | to answer | Non gli rispondo mai. (I never answer him.) |
| telefonare a | to call / phone | Le telefono stasera. (I'll call her tonight.) |
| mandare a | to send to | Vi mando la foto. (I'll send you the photo.) |
| piacere a | to be pleasing to | Gli piace il jazz. (He likes jazz.) |
| sembrare a | to seem to | Le sembra difficile. (It seems hard to her.) |
Telefonare, rispondere, and chiedere look like they should take a direct object in English ("I call him", "I answer him", "I ask him"). In Italian, all three are followed by a — so they take indirect pronouns: gli telefono, gli rispondo, le chiedo.
A Note on Piacere
Piacere deserves special attention because it works differently from English "to like". In Italian, the thing that is liked is the subject, and the person who likes it is the indirect object. So instead of "I like coffee", Italian says "Coffee is pleasing to me" — Mi piace il caffè. The indirect pronoun here is the person, and the verb agrees with the thing that pleases.
Mi piace la musica. / Mi piacciono i film.
I like music. / I like films.
Piace (singular) when the subject is singular; piacciono (plural) when the subject is plural.
Gli piace leggere. / Le piace leggere.
He likes reading. / She likes reading.
Gli for him, le for her. The infinitive leggere acts as the subject, so the verb stays singular.
Combined Pronouns (Pronomi Combinati)
When a sentence needs both an indirect and a direct object pronoun, they combine into a single unit. The indirect pronoun always comes first. The indirect forms change slightly before attaching to a direct pronoun: mi → me, ti → te, ci → ce, vi → ve. The third-person indirect (gli or le) merges with the direct pronoun into a fused form starting with glie-.
| Indirect → Combined form | lo | la | li | le |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mi → me | me lo | me la | me li | me le |
| ti → te | te lo | te la | te li | te le |
| gli / le → glie- | glielo | gliela | glieli | gliele |
| ci → ce | ce lo | ce la | ce li | ce le |
| vi → ve | ve lo | ve la | ve li | ve le |
Note that the third-person combined forms (glielo, gliela, glieli, gliele) are written as single words. All other combined forms remain two separate words. The glie- form is the same for "to him", "to her", and "to them" — context tells you which.
Mi dai il libro? → Me lo dai?
Will you give me the book? → Will you give it to me?
Mi (to me) + lo (it, replacing il libro) → me lo.
Dico il segreto a Luca. → Glielo dico.
I tell Luca the secret. → I tell it to him.
Gli (to him) + lo (it, replacing il segreto — masculine singular) → glielo.
Le mando la foto. → Gliela mando.
I send her the photo. → I send it to her.
Le (to her) + la (it, replacing la foto) → gliela.
Vi porto i documenti. → Ve li porto.
I'll bring you the documents. → I'll bring them to you.
Vi (to you all) + li (them, replacing i documenti — masculine plural) → ve li.
Combined pronouns follow the same placement rules as single pronouns: they go before a conjugated verb (Glielo dico domani) or attach to an infinitive (Voglio dirglielo — I want to tell it to him/her).
Side-by-Side Comparison
Here is a quick reference showing how the same base forms serve as direct and indirect pronouns, and where they differ:
| Person | Direct (chi? / che cosa?) | Indirect (a chi?) |
|---|---|---|
| io | mi | mi |
| tu | ti | ti |
| lui | lo | gli |
| lei | la | le |
| noi | ci | ci |
| voi | vi | vi |
| loro | li / le | gli |
The first and second person forms are identical — mi, ti, ci, vi do the same job whether the action lands directly or via a preposition. The third person is where you must choose: lo / la / li / le for direct, gli / le / gli for indirect.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using a direct pronoun with an indirect-object verb: Telefonare, rispondere, and chiedere take a in Italian, so always use an indirect pronoun. "Gli telefono" not "lo telefono".
- Forgetting past participle agreement: When lo, la, li, or le precede avere in the passato prossimo, the participle must match. "Le ho viste" not "le ho visto" (when referring to feminine plural).
- Misidentifying gli and le: Gli is to him (or to them); le is to her. "Gli ho scritto" means I wrote to him. "Le ho scritto" means I wrote to her.
- Skipping elision: Lo and la shorten to l' before a vowel or silent h. Writing "lo ho" instead of "l'ho" is technically understandable but non-standard.
- Over-using loro: In modern Italian, "gli" has effectively replaced "loro" as the third-person plural indirect pronoun. Use gli before the verb for everyday Italian.
Object Pronouns in Italian Reading
Object pronouns are everywhere in Italian prose. Dialogue is full of them — characters give things to each other, tell each other secrets, call each other on the phone. Once you can spot lo, la, gli, le, glielo and know what they refer back to, whole paragraphs open up. The key is practice: reading real Italian sentences trains your eye to track pronouns and their antecedents automatically.
On LingueLibrary, you can click any pronoun in a text to see exactly what it replaces and how it is formed. Whether you encounter a lone la or a compressed gliela, the word lookup breaks it down so you never lose the thread of what you are reading.
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