Io, tu, lei... these little words are called "subject pronouns" in Italian.
In English we use them all the time: “I go”, “you want”, “she speaks”.
But Italians often don’t! In fact, it can be really confusing knowing when to use io and tu, and when not to.
In this blog post you’ll learn exactly when to use or leave out these little words with confidence.
First though, what are these subject pronouns in Italian?
What are subject pronouns?
Even if you’re not familiar with the term “subject pronouns”, you probably use them every time you speak! In English, we use them to show who we’re talking about:
- I speak
- You speak
- She speaks
- He speaks
Here’s how to say them in Italian:
| Io | I |
| Tu | You |
| Lei | She |
| Lui | He |
| Noi | We |
| Voi | You (plural) |
| Loro | They |
You might notice that a few have more than one vowel, like “io”, “lei” and “lui”. Remember that in Italian, we need to carefully pronounce each vowel: if it feels like a mouthful, you’re doing it right!
If you want to know more about the pronunciation of Italian vowel sounds, don’t miss this episode on how to have an Italian accent.
Now you know what they are, here’s why you don’t usually need ‘em!
Why you don’t need Italian subject pronouns (usually)
In English, without subject pronouns, we don’t know who’s doing what! For example, if you say “speaking” we don’t know if you mean “I’m speaking”, “you’re speaking” or “we’re speaking”.
Not so in Italian. All that information about who is doing what is contained in the verb ending. That’s why in Italian you can say:
- parlo - I speak
- parli - you speak
- parliamo - we speak
All that’s changing is the ending of the verbs.
So, most of the time, you don’t need io, tu, noi etc. and Italians prefer not to use them. It can be tempting to hang on to these little words, because they feel similar to English. And after all, it’s not incorrect to use them, you tell yourself.
But to Italians it sounds very odd to use words like io and tu when it’s not necessary. So odd in fact, we should just treat them like any other mistake.
For example, here are some typical things Italian learners say vs. how Italians say them:
| Phrase | Learner | Native |
| I speak Italian | Io parlo italiano | Parlo italiano |
| Do you want a coffee? | Tu vuoi un caffè? | Vuoi un caffè? |
| We’re going | Noi andiamo | Andiamo |
| Where are you? | Dove tu sei? | Dove sei? |
In each case, the extra word makes the sentence sound clumsy and unnatural.
So, now you know what Italian subject pronouns are, and you know that it’s best to leave them out most of the time.
But the question remains: when do you actually use them?
Use them for clarity, to show who you’re talking about
We’ll get started with the most obvious point: you can use subject pronouns when it’s not obvious who you’re talking about.
Imagine you’re in a busy Italian bar with your friend who speaks excellent Italian. Finally, the waiter comes over to take the order. Disaster! Your friend has just run to the bathroom, although he already told you what he’ll be having. The waiter won’t wait, so you need to order for him. You might say something like this:
Prendo un vino - I’ll have a wine
E lui prende un caffé - and he’ll have a coffee.
As you say lui prende, he’ll have, you might point to his empty chair. You often make some kind of gesture in these cases, to show who you mean. In this situation, if you didn’t use lui, “he”, the waiter might say chi? - “who”?
For another example, imagine you’re at a cocktail party, and your friend is (not-so) subtly telling you what some of the other guests do for a living.
Lei lavora a Londra. - She works in London.
Lui vende automobili. - He sells cars.
Loro sono medici. - They’re doctors.
Each time she’s pointing rather obviously to each person or couple as she introduces them.
If she didn’t use lei, lui and loro, and perhaps even more importantly, point them out, you wouldn’t know who she was talking about.
Use Italian subject pronouns to compare or contrast
We also use io, tu etc. to make comparisons or contrasts between people. For example:
Io non ho tanta fame, tu? - I’m not so hungry, you?
In fact, if you only learn one use of Italian subject pronouns, this is the key one to take away because it’s by far the most common!
Let’s see some more examples.
Comparisons are key to making plans for the evening:
Io voglio andare al cinema, e tu? - I want to go to the cinema, what about you?
They help you find your friends:
Noi siamo in Piazza Cavour, voi dove siete? - We’re in Cavour Square, where are you?
Or introduce them:
Io sono avvocata, lui è professore - I’m a lawyer, he’s a teacher
They save you time doing the housework:
Io lavo, tu asciughi - I’ll wash, you dry.
Or help you argue about the housework:
Tu non pulisci mai, io pulisco sempre! - You never clean, I always clean!
Use them to order drinks, too:
Io vorrei un vino e lui vorrebbe una birra - I’d like a wine, and he’d like a beer.
Essentially, whenever you’re comparing what two or more people are doing, you’ll need Italian subject pronouns like io, tu, lei etc.
If there’s no comparison, you can just go back to the standard way without the subject pronoun. For example:
Cosa vuoi fare stasera? - What do you want to do tonight?
It all depends on the context. Speaking of which, let’s look at a few more contexts where Italians do use subject pronouns!
When replying to questions with “who”?
Who’s there? Who’s calling? Who wants to know? To answer these questions in Italian, you’ll need subject pronouns!
It’s what a teacher would expect to hear, when they ask the class:
Chi conosce la risposta? - Who knows the answer?
Io! - I do!
Or, imagine you’re in a bar with a few friends, and you’re buying drinks. You ask:
Chi vuole una birra? - Who wants a beer?
And the response is unanimous:
Io! - I do!
Or you’re confronting two naughty children who’ve made a mess. You could ask:
Chi ha fatto questo? - Who did this?
Both of them respond passionately:
Lui! - He did!
Lei! - She did!
In English, we need an extra helper verb like “do” or “did”. Not so in Italian. Luckily for us, things are nice and simple: just use io, tu, lei etc. on its own.
Next up, we also use subject pronouns with the word… also!
Use subject pronouns with ANCHE
Have you heard the Italian expression anch’io? For example:
- Ho fame. - Anch’io!
- I’m hungry. - Me too!
This phrase literally means:
Anche = also/too
Io = I
So to say “me too”, Italians literally say “also I”. Anche and io get smushed together, to give us anch’io.
To change the person, just change the subject pronoun, io, tu, lei etc. that comes straight after anche. For example:
Anch’io - Me too
Anche tu - You too
Anche lei - Her too
Anche lui - Him too
Anche noi - Us too
Anche voi - You too (plural)
Anche loro - Them too
You can use these expressions in longer sentences, too. Just remember that the subject pronoun always goes after anche. For example:
Vieni anche tu? - Are you coming too?
NOT *tu vieni anche or *vieni tu anche
If you want to say this expression in the negative, as in “me neither”, just swap anche for neanche:
- Non voglio lasciare l’Italia. - Neanch’io!
- I don’t want to leave Italy. - Me neither!
Finally, let’s look at some common advice you might hear when it comes to using subject pronouns in Italian.
Do You Use Subject Pronouns for Emphasis?
“Use io and tu to be emphatic” is probably the advice you hear most often. Sometimes that feels somewhat woolly. What does “emphasis” really mean?
Emphasis is putting extra stress on one part of your sentence. Think of your tone of voice if you were to say: “I didn’t say go left, I said go straight and THEN left.”
So how does that work with subject pronouns?
Compare these examples:
Bene, direi… - Well, I’d say…
Here you’re saying what you think in a neutral way.
Bene, io direi… - Well I would say…
Here you’re really underlining that it’s something you think, personally. You might use it when you think your idea is better compared to someone else’s!
Or imagine you’re talking about someone else:
Dice sempre… - She always says…
Here you’re just reporting what she normally says.
But if you’re emphasising it’s really something she would say.
Lei dice sempre… - She always says…
In a way, emphasis is really just another case of clarity or contrast (a.k.a. the situation you already read about earlier in this article!) You’re emphasising that it’s she who does something in particular. Or how it’s you that thinks like that - as opposed to someone else.
As you don’t mention the other people explicitly, the comparison isn’t always so obvious. But it’s usually in there somewhere!
Let’s see some more examples:
You could make a comparison when it comes to election day:
Io ho votato, gli altri non lo so… - I’ve voted, I don’t know about the others…
Or make that comparison more implicit:
Io ho votato - I’ve voted (as in: “speaking for myself, not sure about anyone else”)
You could make a comparison about who does something:
Faccio io i piatti, tu rilassati - I’ll do the dishes, you relax.
Or imply a comparison with emphasis:
Faccio io i piatti - I’ll do the dishes (as in “not anyone else”)
Good to know: Sometimes you’ll hear the subject pronoun after the verb, for example faccio io, rather than io faccio. They’re both correct, but after the verb it takes on even more emphasis - “it’s me who does it, and not anyone else”.
So, that’s it! Now you know when to use Italian subject pronouns. Below you’ll find a quiz to see how much you learned, but first here’s a quick review.
When to Use Subject Pronouns in Italian: Review
The most important thing to remember is that we don’t normally use subject pronouns like io and noi in Italian. Most of the time, Italians understand who is doing something from the verb endings. For example:
(io) parlo = I speak
(noi) parliamo = We speak
But we do use them sometimes! When you do need to use the subject pronouns, it might be for one of 5 reasons:
- To be clear about who you mean.
Think: working out who ordered what in a bar: Lui vuole un caffè! - He wants a coffee.
- To make a comparison or contrast.
Think: I’m doing this, you’re doing that. Io faccio questo, tu fai quello.
- When replying to questions about “who”.
Think: “Who wants a piece? I do!” - Io!
- After anche, which means “also” or “too”:
As in, are you coming too? Vieni anche tu?
- For emphasis, but it’s actually just another sneaky example of contrast!
For example: Faccio io i piatti - I’ll wash the dishes (i.e. not you or anyone else!)
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Vocabulary: Subject Pronouns in Italian
Hai ragione = you're right
Io cucino, tu pulisci = I'll cook, you clean.
Pulisco ogni giorno = I clean every day.
Tu non pulisci ogni giorno, io pulisco ogni giorno = You don’t clean every day, I clean every day.
Parlo italiano = I speak Italian
Vuoi un caffè? = Do you want a coffee?
Dove sei? = Where are you?
Ho fame = I'm hungry
Anch'io! = Me too!
Io non ho tanta fame, e tu? = I'm not so hungry, you?
Tu non pulisci mai, io pulisco sempre! = You never clean, I always clean!
Vieni anche tu? = Are you coming too?
Io sono avvocata, lui è professore = I’m a lawyer, he’s a teacher
Quiz: Subject Pronouns in Italian
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Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Subject Pronouns in Italian
Flashcards: Subject Pronouns in Italian
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Transcript: Subject Pronouns in Italian
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to Learn Italian with Joy of Languages!
Today we’re talking about when to use subject pronouns.
M: Hold on a second, Katie. For the non-grammar nerds, could you explain what a subject pronoun is?
K: Yes, a subject pronoun is a word like “I” and “you”, which in Italian are:
M: Io and tu
K: Or “he” and “she” which would be:
M: Lui and lei
K: They’re the words we use to talk about who is doing something.
M: OK, got it.
K: Let’s listen to a typical situation in our house that shows some examples of when we do and don’t use these subject pronouns like io, tu and lei:
M: Questa casa è un disastro!
K: Non è vero, pulisco ogni giorno.
M: Tu non pulisci ogni giorno, io pulisco ogni giorno.
K: OK, hai ragione. Però lei lascia i peli ovunque.
B: .....
M: È vero Brody, e non fai neanche i piatti.
K: So first you heard:
M: questa casa è un disastro
K: This house is a disaster. Literally that’s:
M:
questa - this
casa - house
è - is
un - a
disastro - disaster
Then
M: Non è vero, pulisco ogni giorno.
K: It’s not true, I clean every day. Literally:
Non - not
è - it’s
vero - true
pulisco - I clean
ogni - every
giorno - day
K: Notice here how in Italian we don’t normally use io. I just said:
M: Pulisco
K: I clean. I didn’t say io pulisco.
M: Yeah, because in Italian we already know who is doing something from the ending of the word pulisco.
K: Let’s see this in detail. In English, if we just say “speaking”, we don’t know if we mean “I’m speaking” or “you’re speaking”. But in Italian, “I’m speaking” would be:
M: Parlo
K: and “you’re speaking”
M: Parli
K: Matteo’s changing the ending, not adding io or tu at the beginning. So, the standard way is with no “subject pronoun”, we don’t need words like io or tu to tell us who’s doing the action.
M: But sometimes we do use them.
K: Yes, and it can feel a bit confusing at first, trying to figure out how to use them naturally like Italians do. In this next bit we hear an example of when we do use them:
M: Tu non pulisci ogni giorno, io pulisco ogni giorno.
K: You don’t clean every day, I clean every day.
Tu - you
non - not
pulisci - you clean
ogni - every
giorno - day
Io - I
pulisco - I clean
ogni giorno - every day
K: So what’s going on here? Matteo says:
M: tu non pulisci, io pulisco
K: You don’t clean, I clean. So in Italian you use subject pronouns when you’re making a contrast or comparison, which applies to loads of situations. “I do this, you do that”, “I want to go here, what about you” - any kind of sentence where you compare what people are doing or thinking.
In English we often do this by emphasising the word I and YOU in these kinds of sentences. I’ll cook. You clean.
M: Io cucino, tu pulisci.
K: This is by far the most common use of subject pronouns in Italian, so if you only learn one situation, make it this one! It’s really useful for making plans and deciding who wants to do what. Next I said:
M: OK, hai ragione.
K: OK, you’re right.
M:
OK - OK
Hai - you have
Ragione - reason
K: Here notice again how there’s normally no tu or io in Italian. It’s
M: Hai ragione
K: and not
M: Tu hai ragione
K: Just as a little aside, the literal meaning sounds funny in English, to say “you have reason” - if you missed it, do listen to our podcast number 90 where we talked about this phrase, and others that work in a similar way. Then I continued:
M: Però lei lascia i peli ovunque.
K: But she leaves hair everywhere. Literally:
M:
Però - but
lei - she
lascia - leaves
i peli - the hairs
ovunque - everywhere
K: Here I did say lei to refer to Brody, the dog.
M: Lei lascia
K: She leaves. That’s because I’m indicating who I’m talking about. I used lei for clarity. It’s often accompanied by a physical gesture: the point is to show who you are talking about, for example, if you’re in a group of people. After that, Matteo said to Brody:
M: È vero Brody, e non fai neanche i piatti
K: It’s true Brody, and you don’t do the dishes either. Word for word that’s:
M:
È - it’s
vero - true
e - and
non - not
fai - you do
neanche - neither
i piatti - the dishes
K: In this sentence it’s clear who Matteo’s talking to, Brody, so he just says
M: non fai
K: you don’t do. There’s no need to add tu in this case. Let’s listen to the conversation again:
M: Questa casa è un disastro!
K: Non è vero, pulisco ogni giorno.
M: Tu non pulisci ogni giorno, io pulisco ogni giorno.
K: OK, hai ragione. Però lei lascia i peli ovunque.
B: .....
M: È vero Brody, e non fai neanche i piatti.
K: Now there are a couple of other times when you need to use the pronoun in Italian, like when replying to “who” questions. If I said, who wants a pizza, Matteo might say:
M: Io!
K: I do! Oh, now I’ve said that actually - mmm, anch’io - me too. But anyway, you can find a more detailed and full explanation of those other times we use pronouns in our blog post on this topic. So if you want to see everything written down, and get bonus materials, like vocabulary cards and a quiz, head over to our website by clicking the link in the description.
M: Or you can go to joyoflanguages.com/italianpodcast and search for episode 92.
K: See you next time. Or as we say in Italian.
K, M: Alla prossima!
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