Gli, le, mi, ti....
These little words are everywhere in Italian and they can be a bit tricky - it's not always easy to know what they mean and how to use them. Today's lesson will clear up the mystery so that you can understand and use them yourself in conversation. Find out more in episode 61 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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Indirect Object Pronouns in Italian
| Object Pronoun | Example |
| Mi (to/for me) | Mi dai questo
You give this to me (literally: to me, you give this) Mi compri questo You buy this for me (literally: for me, you buy this) |
| Ti (to/for you) | Ti do questo
I give this to you (literally: to you, I give this) Ti compro questo I buy this for you (literally: for you, I buy this) |
| Vi (to/for you - plural)
Use “vi” when you speak to two or more people. | Vi do questo
I give this to you - plural (literally: to you, I give this) Vi compro questo I buy this for you - plural (literally: for you, I buy this) |
| Gli (to/for him)
Gli (to/for them) | Gli do questo
I give this to him/them (literally: to him/them, I give this) Gli compro questo I buy this for him/them (literally: for him/them, I buy this) |
| Le (to/for her) | Le do questo
I give this to her (literally: to her, I give this) Le compro questo I buy this for her (literally: for her, I buy this) |
| Ci (to/for us) | Ci dai questo
You give this to us (literally: to us, you give this) Ci compri questo You buy this for us (literally: for us, you buy this) |
Indirect Object Pronouns in Italian: Vocabulary
Mi = to me/for me
Ti = to you/for you
Gli = to him/for him
Le = to her/for her
Ci = to us/for us
Vi = to you/for you (plural "you", when speaking to two or more people)
Gli = to them/for them
Do = I give
Questo = this
Ti = to you/for you
Ti do questo = I give this to you
Compro questo = I buy this
Ti compro questo = I buy this for you
Vi = To you/for you (plural - when speaking to two or more people)
Vi do questo = I give this to you (plural)
Vi compro questo = I buy this for you (plural)
Gli = to him/for him
Gli do questo = I give this to him
Gli compro questo = I buy this for him
Gli = to them/for them
Gli do questo = I give this to them
Gli compro questo = I buy this for them
Le = to her/for her
Le do questo = I give this to her
Le compro questo = I buy this for her
Mi = to me/for me
Mi fai questo = you do this to me
Perché mi fai questo?! = Why are you doing this to me?
Perché = why
Mi = to me
Fai = you do
Questo = this
Ci = to us/for us
Ci fai questo = you do this to us
Perché ci fai questo? = Why are you doing this to us?
Indirect Object Pronouns in Italian: Take the quiz
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Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Italian Object Pronouns - The Ultimate Guide (Quiz)
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: Today, we're going to reopen a big can of worms and talk about indirect object pronouns in Italian. If you're thinking "a what now", "indirect object pronoun" is just the name of those little words like "mi" "ti", "gli" and "le" that you may see floating around. They can cause lots of problems when you're learning Italian because it's sometimes tricky to know where they come from and how to use them.
In today's lesson, we're going to go through them really clearly, step by step, so by the end, you'll be able to recognise them and use them yourself in conversation. Remember, if you want to see these words written down and get bonus materials like quizzes, you can get the notes for this episode at joyoflanguages.com/italianpodcast and scroll to episode 61.
M: Comminciamo! Let's start.
K: An indirect object pronoun in Italian is just a fancy way of saying "to someone" or "for someone". So for example, if I say "I give this to you". The "to you" bit would be the indirect object pronoun in Italian. Similarly, if we say "I buy this for you", the "for you" bit would be the indirect object in Italian. The indirect object pronouns in Italian are:
Matteo:
Mi - to me/for me
Ti - to you/for you
Gli - to him/for him
Le - to her/for her
Ci - to us/for us
Vi - to you/for you (plural "you", when speaking to two or more people)
Gli - to them/for them
K: You'll find a table of these over on our website joyoflanguages.com/italianpodcast episode 61. For now, let's practise using these in some sentences. How would you say "I give this to you" in Italian?
M: "I give" is "do". "This" is "questo". I give this is "do questo".
K: Now, we need the "to you" bit. Can you remember how to say "to you" or "for you" in Italian?
M: Ti.
K: In Italian, we put this at the beginning of the sentence, so we literally say "to you" I give this. How would you say that?
M: Ti do questo.
K: Great. I buy this is "compro questo". So how would you say "I buy this for you"? Literally "for you, I buy this"
M: Ti compro questo.
K: Next, in Italian we have the "you plural", for when we speak to two or more people. It's a bit like saying "to you both" or "to you all". So to say "to you" or "for you" to two or more people, we say:
M: Vi.
K: So how would you say "I give you this" to two or more people? Literally, "to you, I give this"
M: Vi do questo
K: And how would you say "I buy this for you" to two or more people? Literally, "for you, I buy this"
M: Vi compro questo.
K: Now let's try with "to him" can you remember how to say "to or for him" in Italian?
M: Gli.
K: So how would you say "I give him this"? Literally "to him, I give this".
M: Gli do questo
K: I buy this we know is "compro questo". So how would you say "I buy this for him" literally "for him, I buy this"
M: Gli compro questo.
K: Now let's try with "them". Can you remember how to say "to them" or "for them" in Italian? It's actually the same as "to him" or "for him"
M: Gli
K: So how would you say "I give this to them"? (To them, I give this)
M: Gli do questo.
K: What about "I buy this for them"? (For them, I buy this)
M: Gli compro questo.
K: And how do you say "to her/for her"?
M: Le
K: So how would you say "I give her this"? Literally "to her, I give this"
M: Le do questo.
K: And what about "I buy this for her" (for her, I buy this)
M: Le compro questo.
K: And if you'd like more practise with "gli" and "le", you can also go back and listen to episodes 56 - 58.
K: Next, we know that "to me" or "for me" is:
M: Mi
K: Same as in English, but spelt mi. You do is "fai". So how would you say "you do this to me" in Italian? Literally "to me, you do this".
M: Mi fai questo.
K: Great, and in Italian, a sentence you hear quite often is "perché mi fai questo?!" Which is "why are you doing this to me?" Literally:
M:
Perché = why
Mi = to me
Fai = you do
Questo = this
K: Finally, can you remember how to say "to us" or "for us" in Italian?
M: Ci
K: So how would you say "you do this to us?" (to us, you do this).
M: Ci fai questo.
K: And how would you say "Why are you doing this to us?" (why, to us, you do this)
M: Perché ci fai questo?
That's it from us for now, to practise using what you learnt today, you can get bonus materials including transcripts, quizzes and flashcards by going to joyoflanguages.com/italianpodcast and scrolling down to episode 61. 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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