We already know the personal pronouns, we have already used them very often. We have mentioned that Italian as well as English belongs to the few languages without declension, the relationship between the objects is defined through prepositions. But if the nouns are presented by pronouns, this relationship is established through declension, the form of the words changes. The table below shows us once again the whole system.
nominative
English
iItalian
I
io
you
tu
he
lui
she
lei
we
noi
you
voi
they (masculine)
loro
they (feminine)
loro
You (polite, sing., masc.)
lei***
You (polite, sing., fem.)
lei
You (polite, plural, masc.)
loro / voi****
You (polite, plural, fem.)
loro / voi
dative
English
Italian
me
mi
you
ti
him
gli
her
le
us
ci
you
vi
them
loro/gli
them
loro/gli
you
le** / (gli)*
you
le / (gli)
you
vi / loro / (gli)*
you
vi / loro / (gli)
accusative
English
Italian
me
mi
you
ti
him
lo
her
la
us
ci
you
vi
them
li
them
le
you
la
you
la
you
li (auch vi)
you
le (auch vi)
Annotations:
* In colloquial speech gli can be used in plural for dative as well, for masculine and feminine. Le, dative, becomes always gli if used combined with a direct object.
** Only the personal pronouns in singular accusative are apostrophized, in other word lo / la.
L' apetto alle tre. => I expect you at three o' clock.
but: Li aspetto alle tre. => I expect you at three o' clock.
There is no apotrophization neither with le.
Ieri le ho dato dieci euro.
Yesterday I gave her 10 euros.
*** Lei is the third person singular feminine as well as the formal form for third person plural (feminine and masculine). You may wonder, whether the adjectives are feminine as well when we talk to a man, but that's not the case.
woman: Lei è molto simpatica. <=> You are a nice person.
man: Lei è molto simpatico. <=> You are a nice person.
**** One could also think that if we use voi (second person plural) instead of loro (third person plural) for the polite form the verb is in the third person plural anyway. That's not the case. If you use voi as a polite form the verb is in the second person plural as well.
