Italian Pronouns: Complete Practical Guide

Italian pronouns include subject, object, reflexive, possessive, demonstrative, relative, interrogative, indefinite, and special pronouns such as ci, ne, and si.

1. Subject Pronouns

English	Italian
I	io
you singular	tu
he	lui
she	lei
we	noi
you plural	voi
they	loro

Italian often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the subject.

• Io parlo italiano. = I speak Italian.
• Parlo italiano. = I speak Italian.
• Siamo pronti. = We are ready.

2. Formal “You”: Lei

Lei is used as the polite singular form of “you”. It takes a third-person singular verb.

• Come sta? = How are you?
• Lei è pronto? = Are you ready?
• Le mando un’email. = I’ll send you an email.

3. Direct Object Pronouns

Direct object pronouns answer “whom?” or “what?”

English	Italian
me	mi
you	ti
him / it	lo
her / it	la
us	ci
you plural	vi
them masculine	li
them feminine	le

• Mi vedi? = Do you see me?
• Lo conosco. = I know him.
• La vedo. = I see her.
• Li compro. = I buy them.

4. Indirect Object Pronouns

Indirect object pronouns answer “to whom?” or “for whom?”

English	Italian
to me	mi
to you	ti
to him	gli
to her	le
to us	ci
to you plural	vi
to them	gli / loro

• Mi dai una mano? = Can you give me a hand?
• Gli telefono. = I phone him.
• Le scrivo. = I write to her.
• Gli ho detto la verità. = I told them the truth.

5. Direct vs Indirect

• Lo chiamo. = I call him.
• Gli telefono. = I phone him.
• La guardo. = I look at her.
• Le parlo. = I speak to her.

6. Stressed Pronouns

Stressed pronouns are used after prepositions or for emphasis.

English	Italian
me	me
you	te
him	lui
her	lei
us	noi
you plural	voi
them	loro

• Vieni con me? = Are you coming with me?
• Parlo di te. = I’m talking about you.
• Questo regalo è per lei. = This gift is for her.

7. Reflexive Pronouns

Subject	Reflexive Pronoun
io	mi
tu	ti
lui / lei	si
noi	ci
voi	vi
loro	si

• Mi lavo. = I wash myself.
• Ti svegli presto? = Do you wake up early?
• Si chiama Marco. = His name is Marco.
• Ci divertiamo. = We are having fun.

8. Reflexive Pronouns in the Past Tense

Reflexive verbs use essere in compound tenses.

• Mi sono svegliato. = I woke up. Masculine speaker.
• Mi sono svegliata. = I woke up. Feminine speaker.
• Ci siamo divertiti. = We had fun.
• Si è arrabbiata. = She got angry.

9. Reciprocal Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns can also mean “each other”.

• Ci vediamo domani. = We’ll see each other tomorrow.
• Si amano. = They love each other.
• Si conoscono bene. = They know each other well.

10. Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives

English	Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Masculine Plural	Feminine Plural
my	mio	mia	miei	mie
your	tuo	tua	tuoi	tue
his / her	suo	sua	suoi	sue
our	nostro	nostra	nostri	nostre
your plural	vostro	vostra	vostri	vostre
their	loro	loro	loro	loro

• Il mio libro = my book
• La mia casa = my house
• I miei amici = my friends
• Questo è il mio. = This one is mine.

11. Demonstrative Pronouns

Italian	Meaning
questo	this one, masculine
questa	this one, feminine
questi	these, masculine
queste	these, feminine
quello	that one, masculine
quella	that one, feminine
quelli	those, masculine
quelle	those, feminine

• Questo è buono. = This one is good.
• Quella è mia sorella. = That one is my sister.
• Preferisco questi. = I prefer these.

12. Relative Pronouns

Che

• Il ragazzo che parla è mio fratello. = The boy who is speaking is my brother.
• Il libro che leggo è interessante. = The book that I am reading is interesting.

Cui

• La persona di cui parlo = the person I am talking about
• Il ragazzo con cui studio = the boy I study with
• La città in cui vivo = the city I live in

Il quale / La quale / I quali / Le quali

• Il professore, il quale vive a Milano, è molto famoso. = The professor, who lives in Milan, is very famous.

13. Interrogative Pronouns

Italian	Meaning
chi	who / whom
che cosa / cosa / che	what
quale	which
quanto	how much / how many

• Chi è? = Who is it?
• Cosa vuoi? = What do you want?
• Quale preferisci? = Which one do you prefer?
• Quanti ne vuoi? = How many do you want?

14. Indefinite Pronouns

• Qualcuno ha chiamato. = Someone called.
• Ho visto qualcosa. = I saw something.
• Non ho visto nessuno. = I didn’t see anyone.
• Non voglio niente. = I don’t want anything.
• Tutti sono arrivati. = Everyone arrived.

15. The Special Pronoun “ci”

Ci = us

• Ci vedono. = They see us.
• Ci parlano. = They speak to us.

Ci = there

• Vai a Roma? Sì, ci vado domani. = Are you going to Rome? Yes, I’m going there tomorrow.

Ci with certain verbs

• Ci credo. = I believe it.
• Ci penso. = I’m thinking about it.

C’è / Ci sono

• C’è un problema. = There is a problem.
• Ci sono tre persone. = There are three people.

16. The Special Pronoun “ne”

Ne can mean “of it”, “of them”, “from there”, “about it”, or “some”.

• Ne voglio un po’. = I want some of it.
• Ne ho tre. = I have three of them.
• Che ne pensi? = What do you think of it?
• Ne parliamo domani. = We’ll talk about it tomorrow.

17. Combined Pronouns

Combination	Example	Meaning
me lo	Me lo dai?	Will you give it to me?
te lo	Te lo prometto.	I promise it to you.
glielo	Glielo dico.	I tell it to him/her/them.
ce lo	Ce lo portano.	They bring it to us.
ve lo	Ve lo preparo.	I prepare it for you all.
me ne	Me ne dai un po’?	Will you give me some?
se ne	Se ne va.	He/she is leaving.

18. Se ne and -sene

Se ne is made from si plus ne. When attached to verbs, it often becomes -sene.

• Se ne va. = He/she is leaving.
• Me ne vado. = I’m leaving.
• Voglio andarmene. = I want to leave.
• Vattene! = Go away!
• Se n’è andato. = He left.

Common verbs with -sene

• andarsene = to go away
• fregarsene = not to care
• accorgersene = to notice / realize
• intendersene = to know about something

19. Placement of Pronouns

Before conjugated verbs

• Lo vedo. = I see him.
• Ti chiamo. = I call you.
• Ne voglio tre. = I want three of them.

Attached to infinitives

• Voglio vederlo. = I want to see him.
• Devo chiamarti. = I have to call you.
• Voglio andarci. = I want to go there.

Attached to commands

• Guardami! = Look at me!
• Dimmi! = Tell me!
• Fallo! = Do it!
• Vattene! = Go away!

Attached to gerunds

• Vedendolo, ho capito. = Seeing him, I understood.
• Parlandone, mi sono emozionato. = Talking about it, I got emotional.

20. Pronouns in the Past Tense

With direct object pronouns, the past participle agrees with the pronoun.

• L’ho visto. = I saw him.
• L’ho vista. = I saw her.
• Li ho comprati. = I bought them.
• Le ho comprate. = I bought them.

21. Pronouns with Piacere

Italian uses an indirect-object structure with piacere.

• Mi piace. = I like it.
• Mi piacciono. = I like them.
• Ti piace? = Do you like it?
• Gli piacciono i film italiani. = He/they like Italian films.

22. Special Uses of “si”

Reflexive si

• Si lava. = He/she washes himself/herself.

Reciprocal si

• Si amano. = They love each other.

Impersonal si

• In Italia si mangia bene. = In Italy, people eat well.
• Qui si parla italiano. = Italian is spoken here.

Passive si

• Si vende una casa. = A house is for sale.
• Si vendono case. = Houses are for sale.

23. “Lo” as a Neutral Pronoun

Lo can refer to an entire idea.

• Lo so. = I know.
• Non lo capisco. = I don’t understand it.
• Lo penso anch’io. = I think so too.

24. Common Pronoun Patterns

Ce l’ho

• Ce l’ho. = I have it.
• Ce l’hai? = Do you have it?
• Ce l’ha. = He/she has it.
• Ce l’abbiamo. = We have it.
• Ce l’avete? = Do you all have it?
• Ce l’hanno. = They have it.

Ce ne sono

• Ce n’è uno. = There is one of them.
• Ce ne sono molti. = There are many of them.
• Non ce ne sono. = There aren’t any.

25. Master Examples

Type	Italian	English
Direct object	Lo vedo.	I see him.
Indirect object	Gli scrivo.	I write to him.
Reflexive	Marco si lava.	Marco washes himself.
Ne	Ne ho tre.	I have three of them.
Ci	Ci vado.	I’m going there.
Combined	Glielo do.	I give it to him/her.
Formal direct	La chiamo domani.	I’ll call you tomorrow.
Formal indirect	Le scrivo domani.	I’ll write to you tomorrow.

26. Biggest Pronoun Traps

1. lo, la, li, le are direct object pronouns.
2. gli and le are indirect object pronouns.
3. ci can mean “us”, “there”, or “about/to it”.
4. ne can mean “some”, “of it”, “about it”, or “from there”.
5. si can be reflexive, reciprocal, impersonal, or passive.
6. Pronouns usually go before conjugated verbs.
7. Pronouns attach to infinitives, commands, and gerunds.
8. Past participles agree with direct object pronouns.
9. se can mean “if”, but in se ne va, it is a reflexive pronoun.
10. Some verbs should be learned as full expressions: andarsene, fregarsene, accorgersene, intendersene.