Italian direct object pronouns: mi, ti, lo, la, li, le

A direct object is the person or thing that receives the action of the verb directly, with no preposition in between: in «Vedo Marco», Marco is the direct object. A direct object pronoun replaces it, so you do not have to repeat the noun: «Conosci Marco? Sì, lo conosco bene.» “Do you know Marco? Yes, I know him well.”

Italian has eight of these pronouns, plus a formal one: mi, ti, lo, la, ci, vi, li, le and La. Unlike English “him” or “it”, they usually go before the verb, not after it. In the third person they also show the gender and number of the noun they replace, for people and things alike.

Is it a direct object? A quick test

Ask chi? (who?) or che cosa? (what?) straight after the verb. If the answer follows the verb with no preposition, it is a direct object: in «Invito Paolo», you invite whom? Paolo, so «Lo invito». If there is an «a» before the person, it is an indirect object and needs a different pronoun: «Telefono a Paolo» becomes «Gli telefono».

Be careful with verbs that work differently in English. These take a direct object in Italian, with no preposition: aspettare (to wait for), ascoltare (to listen to), cercare (to look for), guardare (to look at), pagare (to pay for), ringraziare (to thank). So you say «Ti aspetto» “I’ll wait for you”, «Lo cerco» “I’m looking for it”, «Ti ascolto» “I’m listening to you”.

Lo can also stand for a whole idea, where English says “it”, “so” or nothing at all: «Lo so» “I know”, «Non lo so» “I don’t know”, «Lo spero» “I hope so”.

• Aspetti l’autobus? Sì, l’aspetto da dieci minuti. · Are you waiting for the bus? Yes, I’ve been waiting for ten minutes.
• Dove sono gli occhiali? Li cerco dappertutto. · Where are my glasses? I’m looking for them everywhere.
• A che ora parte il treno? Non lo so. · What time does the train leave? I don’t know.

Lo, la, li, le: matching gender and number

In the third person, choose the pronoun that matches the noun you replace: lo for a masculine singular noun, la for a feminine singular, li for a masculine plural, le for a feminine plural. A mixed group of masculine and feminine nouns takes li. This works for things as well as people: «il libro» → lo, «la pizza» → la, «i biglietti» → li, «le chiavi» → le.

Lo and la usually shorten to l’ before a vowel or h, and almost always before ho, hai, ha and hanno: «L’aspetto qui», «L’ho comprato ieri». Li and le never shorten: «Li ho visti», «Le ho chiamate».

When you speak formally to someone you address as Lei, use La for both men and women: «La chiamo domani, signor Rossi», «Signora, La aspetto in ufficio». In writing it often has a capital letter, but a small la is also correct.

• Compro il pane e lo porto a casa. · I buy the bread and take it home.
• Hai le foto della festa? Sì, le mando a tutti stasera. · Do you have the photos from the party? Yes, I’ll send them to everyone tonight.
• Marco e Giulia? Li invito sabato. · Marco and Giulia? I’m inviting them on Saturday.

Where the pronoun goes

With a conjugated verb, the pronoun goes directly before it. In a negative sentence, «non» comes before the pronoun: «Lo conosco», «Non lo conosco». The pronoun never goes after a conjugated verb: «Conosco lo» is always wrong.

With a modal verb (volere, potere, dovere) followed by an infinitive, you have two choices. Put the pronoun before the modal, or attach it to the end of the infinitive, which loses its final -e: «La posso chiamare stasera» or «Posso chiamarla stasera». Both mean the same. The pronoun cannot go between the two verbs.

The pronoun also attaches to an infinitive after a preposition, as in «Ho comprato una torta per mangiarla insieme», and to affirmative tu, noi and voi commands: «Chiamami!» “Call me!”, «Prendilo» “Take it”. Commands with pronouns have extra rules of their own, covered with the imperative and pronouns.

Passato prossimo: l’ho visto, le ho comprate

In the passato prossimo the pronoun goes before the auxiliary, and lo and la usually become l’: «Hai visto il film? Sì, l’ho visto.»

Here is the important part: when lo, la, li or le comes before the verb, the past participle agrees with the pronoun, even though the auxiliary is avere. «Il libro? L’ho letto.» «La torta? L’ho fatta io.» «I biglietti? Li ho presi.» «Le chiavi? Le ho dimenticate a casa.» With l’, the participle is the only thing that tells you whether it stands for lo or la: «l’ho visto» (him, it) but «l’ho vista» (her, it).

With mi, ti, ci and vi, the agreement is optional. A woman can be asked «Ti ho svegliato?» or «Ti ho svegliata?» “Did I wake you up?”: both are correct, and both are common.