Parli Italiano?
Chapter 5: Pronomi doppi
Pronome diretto + Pronome indiretto
When a sentence includes both a direct object pronoun and an indirect object pronoun, we can combine the two pronouns together.
– Mi presti il libro di italiano? [Can you lend me the Italian book?]
– Sì, te lo presto volentieri. [Yes, I lend it to you gladly]
Te lo is a double pronoun: it’s the combination of ti + lo (in this case, lo stands for il libro di italiano). Double pronouns are the combination of an indirect pronoun with a direct pronoun (or ne); they are very common in Italian.
Here are all the possible combinations:
[table id=9 /]
A few more examples:
– Prendi un regalo a Lucia? [Do you get Lucia a present?]
– Sì, glielo prendo. [Yes, I get it for her]
La professoressa ha portato una torta in classe e ce ne ha data una fetta. [The professor brought a cake to class and gave us a slice of it]
Keep in mind that all the rules that apply to single object pronouns also apply to double pronouns:
- lo and la become l’ when they precede the vowels o and ate l’ho detto; gliel’ha portato
- when the direct object pronouns lo, la, li, le, and ne come before the passato prossimo, the past participle changes to agree with the direct object pronoun,
– Hai portato le riviste alla nonna? – Sì, gliele ho portate.
- pronouns always go before the conjugated verb; however, where there is a verb + an infinitive, pronouns can go either before the conjugated verb or be attached to the end of the infinitive after you have dropped the last letter of the infinitive, as in prestare> prestar.
– No, ma glielo voglio prestare domani. / – No, ma voglio prestarglielo domani
Pronome diretto + Pronome riflessivo
When reflexive verb pronouns combine with a direct pronoun, you can also have double pronouns, which look the same as the ones you have seen above, except for the 3rd person in the singular and plural.
– Ti sei preparato gli appunti per l’esame? – Sì, me li sono preparati
[table id=10 /]
A few more examples:
– Hai fame? Ti mangi un bel panino? – Sì, me lo mangio volentieri!