Give it to me. I'll buy it for you.
To say these sentences in Italian, you need a "double object pronoun". Find out what they are and how to use them in episode 62 of 5 Minute Italian.
To remember what you learnt in today's lesson, below you'll find bonus materials including word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first...
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Double Object Pronouns in Italian
1. For masculine words, like "il libro" (the book)
| Double Object Pronouns for masculine words
it = lo | Example |
| Me lo
(for me, it) | Me lo compri
You buy it for me (literally: for me, it, you buy) |
| Te lo
(for you, it) | Te lo compro
I buy it for you (literally: for you, it, I buy) |
| Glielo
(for him, it) (for her, it) (for them, it) (for you formal*, it) | Glielo compro
I buy it for him (literally: for him, it, I buy) I buy it for her (literally: for her, it, I buy) I buy it for them (literally: for them, it, I buy) I buy it for you* (literally: for you*, it, I buy) *The formal you, when speaking to people over 40-ish you don’t know very well or in formal situations like work, hotels and restaurants. |
| Ve lo
(for you plural*, it) | Ve lo compro
I buy it for you* (literally, for you plural, it, I buy) * the plural “you”, when speaking to two or more people. |
| Ce lo
(for us, it) | Ce lo compro
I buy it for us (literally, for us, it, I buy) |
2. For feminine words, like "la torta" (the cake)
| Double Object Pronouns
for feminine words it = la | Example |
| Me la
(for me, it) | Me la compri
You buy it for me (literally: for me, it, you buy) |
| Te la
(for you, it) | Te la compro
I buy it for you (literally: for you, it, I buy) |
| Gliela
(for him, it) (for her, it) (for them, it) (for you formal*, it) | Gliela compro
I buy it for him (literally: for him, it, I buy) I buy it for her (literally: for her, it, I buy) I buy it for them (literally: for them, it, I buy) I buy it for you* (literally: for you*, it, I buy) *The formal you, when speaking to people over 40-ish you don’t know very well or in formal situations like work, hotels and restaurants. |
| Ve la
(for you plural*, it) | Ve la compro
I buy it for you* (literally, for you all, it, I buy) * the plural “you”, when speaking to more than one person. |
| Ce la
(for us, it) | Ce la compro
I buy it for us (literally, for us, it, I buy) |
Indirect Object Pronouns in Italian: Vocabulary
Quel libro, me lo compri? = That book, can you buy it for me? (literally: that book, for me, it, you buy?)
Quel =that
Libro = book
Me = for me
Lo = it
Compri = you buy
Compro = I buy
Lo compro = I buy it. Literally: it, I buy (For masculine things, like "il libro")
La compro = I buy it. (la = for feminine things, like "la torta")
Ti compro un libro = I buy a book for you (literally: for you, a buy a book)
Te lo compro = I buy it for you (literally: for you, it, I buy)
Me lo compri = You buy it for me (literally: for me, it, you buy)
Me la compri = You buy it for me (la = for feminine things, like "la torta")
Me lo dai = You give it to me (literally: to me, it, you give)
Me la dai = You give it to me (la = for feminine things, like "la torta")
Te lo compro = I buy it for you (literally: for you, it, I buy)
Te la compro = I buy it for you (la = for feminine things, like "la torta")
Te lo do = I give it to you (literally: to you, it, I give)
Te la do = I give it to you (la = for feminine things, like "la torta")
Glielo compro = I buy it for him/her/them/you formal (literally, for him/her/them/you formal, it, I buy)
Gliela compro = I buy it for him/her/them/you formal (la = for feminine things, like "la torta")
Glielo do = I give it to him/her/them/you formal (literally, to him/her/them/you formal, it, I give)
Gliela do = I give it to him/her/them/you formal (la = for feminine things, like "la torta")
Ce lo compro = I buy it for us (literally, for us, it, I buy)
Ce la compro = I buy it for us (for feminine things, like "la torta")
Ve lo compro = I buy it for you all/both (literally: for you all/both, it, I buy)
Ve la compro = I buy it for you all/both (la = for feminine things, like "la torta")
Ve lo do = I give it to you all/both (literally: to you all/both, it, I give)
Ve la do = I give it to you all/both (la = for feminine things, like "la torta")
Indirect Object Pronouns in Italian: Take the quiz
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Indirect Object Pronouns in Italian: Flashcards
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Indirect Object Pronouns in Italian: Transcript
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
Katie: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 Minute Italian, I’m Katie.
M: And I’m Matteo. Ciao!
K: Matteo, quel libro. Me lo compri?
M: OK
K: This is an example of a real sentence that I said to Matteo last week. That book, can you buy it for me?
M:
Quel =that
Libro = book
Me = for me
lo = it
compri = you buy
I wanted to buy a Chinese book for my trip, but it wouldn't arrive in time, so I asked Matteo if he could get it for me because he has a subscription where he gets stuff delivered faster. And this sentence is the perfect example of what we're going to learn about today. The "me lo" part.
The official name for these things is "double object pronouns", but all you need to know is that it's a combination of words that we use when we want to talk about buying something for someone (buy it for me), doing something for someone (do it for me), or giving something to someone (give it to me). Basically, if you've got something and someone in the sentence, you can use these double object pronouns. This will all become clear in this lesson, which is a little bit longer than usual, so that we can explain all the combinations. And you can see everything from this lesson written down by going to joyoflanguages.com/italianpodcast and scrolling down to episode 62.
So let's start with "it" in Italian. If we're talking about a masculine thing, with "il", for example, "il libro", then we use "lo". I buy in Italian is...
M: Compro
K: In Italian, we say things backwards: "it, I buy". So to say I buy it, when talking about a masculine word like book, we'd say:
M: Lo compro
K: If it was a feminine word, like "la torta", it becomes "la". So how would you say "I buy it" if you're talking about something feminine, like a cake?
M: La compro
K: So far, so good. But what if you want to say "I buy it for you"? The "for you" part is what we call an indirect pronoun in Italian. If you feel a bit unsure about these, I'd recommend you go back and listen to the last episode 61 - Indirect Pronouns in Italian, the Ultimate Guide, because this will give you a really good foundation for the rest of this lesson. For now, let's say that in Italian, to say "for you", we say "ti". And this goes at the beginning of the sentence. So for example, to say I buy a book for you, we say "for you, I buy a book"
M: Ti compro un libro.
K: But we don't want to say "a book". We want to say "it". This means, instead of a book, we can say "lo". And this is where things get a bit crazy in Italian. Because when we have "for you" (ti) and "it" (lo), in Italian, we combine them and we get:
M: Te lo compro.
K: Literally, for you, it, I buy. Or in plain English, I buy it for you. When we combine these indirect object pronouns like "ti" or "mi" with "lo", the "i" becomes "e". So it becomes "te lo". "me lo" etc. To complicate matters further, if the "it" is feminine, like "la torta", the cake, we say "te la", "me la" etc.
Let's practise. We'll go through the main combinations with the words "comprare" (to buy) and "dare" (to give).
To say "you buy" we say "compri".
K: If we want to say "you buy it for me", we literally say: for me, it you buy. And we change "mi" to "me".
M: Me lo compri
K: And if we're talking about a feminine noun, like "la torta"?
M: Me la compri
K: You give is "dai", spelt d-a-i. So how would you say "you give it to me?" (to me, it you give)
M: Me lo dai.
K: And if the thing is feminine, like "la torta"
M: Me la dai.
K: I buy is "compro". For you is "ti". Can you remember how to say "I buy it for you"? Literally, for you, I buy. Remember to change "ti" to "te".
M: Te lo compro
K: For feminine words, like "la torta"?
M: Te la compro
K: I give is "do". So how would you say "I give it to you" (to you, it I give)
M: Te lo do.
K: For feminine nouns?
M: Te la do.
K: Perfect. Now, I've got some bad news and some good news. The next one is a little complicated, but you can use it in loads of different situations, so once you learn it, you can use it all the time. To say "for him", we say "gli", spelt "g-l-i". Pronounced by making a big smile and squashing the top of your tongue flat against the roof of your mouth, gli. Now, when we combine "for him" (gli) with "it" (lo) we add an e on the end of gli, so we get "g-l-i" = gli plus e. glie. Then we attach "lo" to the end.
M: glie lo
K: So to say "I buy it for him" (for him, it I buy") we say:
M: Glielo compro.
K: If it's feminine?
M: Gliela compro
K: And I give it to him?
M: Glielo do
K: If it's feminine?
M: Gliela do.
K: I think this is probably one of the hardest words to pronounce and understand grammatically in the Italian language, so don't worry if you find it tricky at first! With practice it will come. Now, that's the complicated bit done. It's about to get a lot simpler. Because in Italian, "glielo", can be used for "him", "her", "them" and "you" in the formal address. You get 4-in-one. So to say "I buy it for her", we say:
M: Glielo compro
K: I buy it for them?
M: Glielo compro
K: I buy it for you, if you're talking to someone using formal address?
M: Glielo compro.
K: Now the feminine version, for words like "la torta". I buy it for her
M: Gliela compro
K: I buy it for them?
M: Gliela compro.
K: I buy it for you (formal address?)
M: Gliela compro.
K: Let's try now with I give (do). Talking about masculine things, like "il libro".
K: I give it to her?
M: Glielo do
K: I give it to them?
M: Glielo do
K: I give it to you (formal)?
M: Glielo do.
K: And with feminine things, like "la torta"? I give it to her.
M: Gliela do
K: I give it to them?
M: Gliela do.
K: I give it to you formal?
M: Gliela do.
K: So we're nearly there, just a couple more combos to go. To say "for us", we say "ci". In a double object pronoun, ci becomes "ce". So how would you say "I buy it for us"?
M: Ce lo compro.
K: And if we're talking about a feminine word, like "torta"?
M: Ce la compro
K: Finally, in Italian, we have a plural word for you, when we're speaking to two or more people, a bit like saying "you both" or "you all". To say, for you all or you both, we say "vi". In a double object pronoun, this becomes "ve". So how would you say "I buy it for you" to a group of two or more people?
M: Ve lo compro.
K: And if the thing is feminine, like "la torta"?
M: Ve la compro.
K: And what about "I give it to you". Literally "to you plural, it, I give.
M: Ve lo do
K: And if it's feminine, like "la torta", we say:
K: Ve la do
Phew! We sweated today! Well done for getting to the end, and do bear in mind that this is one of the trickiest parts of Italian grammar, that causes people problems right up to advanced levels. So don't worry at all if it feels confusing at first, it is complicated, it's not you, it's the grammar! Try to notice these combinations being used as much as you can, keep practising and over time it will come.
Remember, if you want to see these written down in a table, which I think is especially useful for today's lesson, you can find these and get bonus materials by heading over to joyoflanguages.com/italianpodcast and scrolling down to episode 62. Or just follow the link in the show notes for this episode. You can also practice chatting in Italian with us in our 5 Minute Italian Facebook group – click on join and we’ll let you in as soon as we see your request. Ciao for now, see you next time or as we say in Italian,
M: Alla prossima!
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#61: Indirect Object Pronouns in Italian: The Ultimate Guide
