10.3. Combined pronouns
Combined pronouns allow us to use direct- and indirect-object pronouns in one utterance so we can say things like “I’ll bring it to her.” (Glielo porto.) and “They will show it to us.” (Ce lo fanno vedere.)
A. Combined pronouns are very common in both English and Italian.
I gave Julie the disc > I gave it to her.
Ho dato il disco a Julie > Gliel’ho dato.
They showed John the bag > They showed it to him.
Hanno mostrato la borsa a John. > Gliel’hanno mostrata.
Now that you know how to form both direct- and indirect-object pronouns in Italian (Section 10.2 above), you will be able to combine them. In the combined pronoun, the indirect-object pronoun will always come first, e.g.,
Ce l’hanno venduta.
They sold it to us.
Te lo faccio vedere domani.
I will show it to you tomorrow.
B. Following is the chart for combined pronouns. Notice how pronouns like mi, ti, ci, vi are changed to me, te, ce, ve. This is done to facilitate pronunciation.
Combined pronouns, i pronomi combinati –
indirect-object pronouns
mi - me
+
+ e
+ e
direct-object pronouns
lo
me lo
te lo
glielo*
ce lo
ve lo
glielo*
la
me la
te lo
gliela
ce la
ve la
gliela
li
me li
te li
glieli
ce li
ve li
glieli
le
me le
te le
gliele
ce le
ve le
gliele
ne
me ne
te ne
gliene
ce ne
ve ne
gliene
ti - te
gli
gli
le
ci - ce
vi - ve
gli - gli
* In 3rd person singular and plural, the indirect-object pronoun, gli, is attached to the appropriate direct-object pronoun: glielo/ gliela/ glieli/ gliele/ gliene. E.g.,
- Compro un regalo a Laura e glielo do.
- I am buying a gift for Laura and I’m giving it to her.
- Compro un regalo a Mario e glielo do.
- I am buying a gift for Mario and I am giving it to him.
- Compro un regalo ai miei amici e glielo do.
- I am buying a gift for my friends and I am giving it to them.
*As we said above, the 3rd person plural indirect object pronoun gli is much more commonly used than loro. This is also the case for combined pronouns. When loro is used, albeit rarely, it is never attached to the direct object pronoun. E.g.,
Ho dato i libri agli studenti. > Li ho dati a loro. (OR glieli ho dati)
I gave the books to the students. > I gave them to them.
C. Combined pronouns and agreement with past participles
When you use a combined pronoun with a past participle, the past participle must agree with the direct object in gender and number.
- Chi ti ha raccontato questa storia?> Me l'ha raccontata Laura!
- Who told you this story? > Laura told it to me.
- Chi ti ha regalato questi stivali? > Me li ha regalati mio padre.
- Who gave you these boots? > My dad gave them to me.
- Chi ti ha dato quel libro? > Me l’ha dato Giorgio.
- Who gave you that book? > Giorgio gave it to me.