Italian Pronouns: io, me, te, ti, tu, voi, esso, essa…

pronouns italian 1

They are little words that help you replace nouns, to avoid repetitions. “Pronome” literally means → al posto del nome (instead of the noun). In Italian, there are many pronouns categories: they all substitute nouns, but in different ways… let’s learn a little more about their utilization!

 

 

I pronomi personali – Personal pronouns

 

Subject

(Pronomi Soggetto)

Object

(Pronomi complemento)

Tonic Form Atonic Form
Io me mi
Tu te ti
Masculine Egli/ Lui/ Esso lui, sé (stesso), esso lo, gli, ne, si
Feminine Ella / Lei / Essa lei, sé (stessa), essa la, le, ne, si
Noi noi ci
Voi voi vi
Masculine Loro/ Essi Loro, sé (stessi), essi li, ne, si
Feminine Loro/ Esse Loro, sé (stesse), esse le, ne, si

 

Worried? It seems a lot! Let’s take a deep breath and analyse the table together!

 

– Personal subject pronouns correspond to English: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they. They are used in place of the subject.

 

Example:

 

– Maria e Chiara studiano in biblioteca → Loro studiano in biblioteca.
– Marco suona la chitarra → Lui suona la chitarra.
– Francesco, vieni stasera? → Tu vieni stasera?

 

*** Notice

 

1) In contemporary Italian Egli/ Ella/ Essi are not used so much anymore; instead, we utilize Lui/ Lei, Loro (which used to be only complements personal pronouns).

 

2) Esso, Essa (third person singular) refer to animals and things; while Egli/lui and Ella/lei refer to people.

– Personal object pronouns can’t stand alone without a verb. They have a tonic or atonic form:

– Tonic (or strong) form: have a strong emphasis on the sentence. In this case the pronoun comes after the verb.

 

For example:

Io ascolto te→ I want to underline I’m listening to you and not to someone else.

 

– Atonic (or weak) form: in this case the pronoun is not stressed in the sentence and comes before the verb.
Mi chiami più tardi? → Can you call me later?

 

Some examples:

 

– Carlo ha chiamato me → Carlo mi ha chiamato.
– Franco ha incontrato Giulia e le ha chiesto come stava. (He asked her)
– Ci sono tante cose che vorrei dirti → Ce ne sono tante
– Andrea ha invitato te e Sandra alla festa? → Andrea vi ha invitato alla festa?
– Noi domani verremo al Festival → Domani ci saremo anche noi!

 

 

Reflexive Pronouns

 

  • mi
  • ti
  • si
  • ci
  • vi
  • si

 

They are used when the action of the verb reverts to the subject:
Non si parlano più → They don’t talk to “themselves” (to each other) anymore.

 

Some examples:

 

– Mi guardo allo specchi ogni giorno → I look at myself in the mirror every day.
– Ci siamo svegliati alle 9 questa mattina → We woke up at 9 this morning.
– Mi chiedo dove sia finito Andrea! → I wonder where Andrea is!
– Vi sentite meglio oggi? → Are you feeling better today?

 

The pronoun “sé” is also reflexive:

 

– Non pensa che a sé → He only thinks about himself
– Marco ha molta stima di sé → Marco has a good opinion of himself

 

Continue to part 2  ◄◄