Personal Pronouns: Pronomi personali (oggetto diretto)

Direct object pronouns replace direct objects in a sentence. Verbs that take direct object pronouns are called transitive verbs. Examples of transitive verbs in English are to eat, to find, and to see.

Take the sentence I see Bob for example. In English, we can also say I see him. In this case, him replaces Bob, and him is the direct object pronoun.

Following is a table that details the direct object pronouns in Italian and their English equivalents.

Direct Object Pronouns
English	Italian
Me	mi
you (informal)	ti
you (formal)	La
him, it (masculine)	lo
her, it (feminine)	la
Us	ci
you (plural)	vi
them (masculine)	li
them (feminine)	le

Rules and examples:

1. In Italian, direct object pronouns usually precede the conjugated verb.
   
   

   Pulisco la casa ogni settimana; la pulisco. I clean the house every week; I clean it. Conosce Silvio da due anni; lo conosce da due anni. He has known Silvio for two years; he has known him for two years. Mangiano i pasti sempre al ristorante; li mangiano sempre al ristorante. They always eat their meals at the restaurant; they always eat them at the restaurant.

   
   
2. The direct object pronouns lo and la drop their final vowel before verbs which begin with a vowel, except conjugated forms of the verb essere. They also elide before conjugated forms of avere. The direct object pronouns mi, ti, ci, and vi elide only infrequently. The plural forms le and li never elide.
   
   

   Gianni? L’abbiamo visto al parco. Gianni? We saw him in the park. Sembra facile, ma non lo è It seems easy, but it isn’t! Amo la radio; l’ascolto sempre. I love the radio; I always listen to it. Ti aspettano. (T’aspettano.) They’re waiting for you. Le luci? Al negozio le accende Mauro. The lights? At the store Mauro turns them on.

   
   
3. When a direct object pronoun is governed by an infinitive, it usually follows the infinitive and is attached to it. The infinitive, thus, drops its final -e.
   
   

   Non ho voglia di leggerlo. I don’t want to read it. Andiamo a farlo adesso! Let’s go do it now!

   
   The exceptions to this rule are the modal verbs: dovere, potere, and volere. In cases where these verbs are the governing infinitive, the direct object pronoun may either be attached to the infinitive or precede the whole verb phrase.
   
   

   Perché non può prenderli? Perché non li può prendere? Why can’t he take them? Dobbiamo mangiarlo. Lo dobbiamo mangiare. We should eat it. Vuoi aiutarmi? Mi vuoi aiutare? Do you want to help me?

   
   
4. With the verbs credere, dire, essere, pensare, sperare, and sapere, as well as other similar verbs, the direct object pronoun lo can function as an invariable pronoun, like it or so in English.
   
   

   Lo credo davvero. I really believe so. L’ha pensato. She thought so. Non lo so. I don’t know [it].

   
   
5. The following Italian verbs take a direct object pronoun, whereas their English counterparts do not: ascoltare (to listen), aspettare (to wait), cercare (to look for), chiedere (to ask for), guardare (to look at), and pagare (to pay [for]).
   
   

   La festa? La pago io. The party? I’ll pay for it. Cercano Anita; la cercano. They are looking for Anita; they are looking for her. Abbiamo guardato le foto; le abbiamo guardate. We looked at the photos; we looked at them. Se vuoi un favore, devi chiederlo. If you want a favor, you have to ask for it.

   
   
6. The word ecco, which can mean here is, here are, there is, there are, can be used with direct object pronouns. In these cases, the direct object pronouns are attached to ecco.
   
   

   Ecco i libri! Eccoli! Here are the books! Here they are! Eccomi! Here I am! Ecco lo studente! Eccolo! There’s the student! There he is!

   
   NB: Ecco differs from c’è and ci sono, which point out a person, place, or thing without drawing explicit attention to it.
   
   

   Ecco qualcosa di strano! Here’s something strange! C’è qualcosa di interessante nel giornale. There’s something interesting in the paper. Ecco i ragazzi nuovi! Here are the new guys! Ci sono ragazzi nuovi qui? Are there new guys here?