Download Direct Object Pronouns

Direct Object Pronouns
What is a direct object?
A direct object is a noun or pronoun that receives the direct impact of a verb. In both
Italian and English a direct object noun (we’ll look at pronouns later) will follow (not
necessarily directly) the verb. Take a look at these examples in Italian and English. The
direct objects are italicized in each example.
Compro un nuovo divano per la mia casa.
I’m buying a new sofa for my house.
Mangio una pizza ai funghi. (noun)
I’m eating a mushroom pizza.
Amo molto i miei gatti.
I love my cats a lot.
How can I find a direct object in a sentence?
The easiest way to find a direct object in a sentence is to use the verb to ask a ‘what’ or
‘who(whom)’ question. The answer to that question is your direct object. For each of the
Italian sentences below, you'll find a corresponding English ‘what’ or ‘who’ question.
*Note that direct objects will not be preceded by a preposition.
Lui compra un nuovo frigo.
He’s buying what? (a new fridge)
Conozco Madonna.
I know whom? (Madonna)
Ho bisogno di pulire la casa
I need to clean what? (the house)
You can also try the ‘passive test’. Try making the sentence into a passive construction
(reversing the subject and object.)
John kicked the ball. ->The ball was kicked by John.
I saw the movie. -> The movie was seen by me.
‘ball’ and ‘movie’ are direct objects. They can be made into the subject of a passive
sentence.
Here’s an example showing that this won’t work with another construction that comes
behind a verb such as a prepositional phrase.
I went to the movies.
WRONG-the movies were went to by me-WRONG
Makes your ears bleed doesn’t it.
Okay, so what's a direct object pronoun?
Italian, just like English, uses shorter words to substitute for direct objects in order to
make sentences flow more smoothly and to avoid repetition. These shorter words are
called direct object pronouns.
Here are the direct object pronouns shown along side the subject pronouns.
Eng. Subj. pro.
I
You (inf)
He/it (m)
She/it (f)
You (for)
we
You (pl)
They
Ital. subj. pro.
io
tu
lui
lei
Lei
noi
voi
loro
Ital. d.o. pro.
mi
ti
lo
la
La
ci
vi
Li (m), le (f)
Eng. d.o. pro
Me
You (inf)
Him/it (m)
Her/it (f)
You (for)
Us
You (pl)
Them
Where do direct object pronouns go in Italian sentences?
In English the direct object pronoun takes the same location as the direct object nounafter the verb.
I see the movie. -> I see it.
This is not the case in Italian. The direct object pronoun will go…
*Before a conjugated verb:
Guardo la televisione. -> La guardo.
Leggo il libro. -> Lo leggo.
*After and attached to an infinitive (drop the ‘e’ off the infinitive):
Mi piace guardare la televisione. -> Mi piace guardarla.
Devo leggere il libro. -> Devo leggerlo.
*Note about modal verbs:
With the three modal verbs: dovere, potere, volere (and some other verbs that act like
modals such as ‘preferire’) you may either place the pronoun before the conjugated
modal or after and attached to the infinitve. Never place the pronoun between the verbs.
Voglio mangiare la pizza.
Voglio mangiarla. OR La voglio mangiare.
WRONG*** Voglio la mangiare.*** WRONG