| 7.6 The position of the personal pronouns and personal adverbs |
| 7.6.1 The position of "si" as a reflexive pronoun and as an element of the si pasivante |
We now have a little problem. If there were no difference between the si as a reflexive pronoun and the si as part of the si passivante these sentences would be ambiguous. Have a look at these sentences.
| Examples | |
| Se lo prende.
a) He takes it for himself. (correct) b) People take it. (wrong) |
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| Se lo permette. a) He allows it himself. (correct) b) People allow it. (wrong) |
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Theoretically the meaning of the sentence Se lo prende can be He takes it for himself or People take it, but the meaning is He takes it for himself. If si is used as part of the si passivante it stands before the personal pronoun. Compare:
Se lo prende. => He takes it for himself.
Lo si prende. => People take it.
Only in the case that there is no personal pronoun (Si prende) the sentence became ambiguous and the meaning must be deduced from the context.
If si stands before the personal pronoun it becomes se and is a normal reflexive pronoun.| Position of si as a reflexive pronoun |
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| direct object | leads to | Examples | ||
| lo | se lo | Se lo compra(no) =>He/she/it / they buy it for him/her/it/them -sel(f)(ves). | |
|
| la | se la | Se la compra(no) =>He/she/it / they buy it for him/her/it/them -sel(f)(ves). | |
|
| si | li | se li | Se li compra(no) =>He/she/it / they buy it for him/her/it/them -sel(f)(ves). | |
| le | se le | Se le compra(no) =>He/she/it / they buy it for him/her/it/them -sel(f)(ves). | |
|
| l' | se l' | Se l' è comprato =>He/she/it / they buy it for him/her/it/them -sel(f)(ves). | |
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But if si is used as part of the si passivante / si impersonale the personal pronoun stands before si.
| summary | in the case of the si passivante / si impersonale the personal pronoun stands before si | ||
| accusativ / reflexive | + "everybody " / si passivante |
leads to | Examples |
| mi | si | mi si | Mi si vede => People see me. |
| ti | ti si | Ti si vede => People see you. | |
| si | ci si | Ci si lava => People washes themselves. | |
| lo | lo si | Lo si compra => People buy it. (talking about a masc. sing. noun) | |
| la | la si | La si compra => People buy it. (talking about a fem. sing. noun) | |
| li | li si | Li si compra =>People buy it. (talking about a masc./ pl. noun) | |
| le | le si | Le si compra =>People buy it. (talking about a fem. / pl noun | |
| dative | |
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| gli | si | gli si | Gli si permette => People allow it themselves. |
| ci | ci si | Ci si permette => People allow it to us. | |
| vi | vi si | Vi si permette => People allow it to you. | |
| le | le si | Le si permette andare => People allow them to go. | |
| pronominal adverb | |
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| ci | si | ci si | Ci si va sempre => People always go there. |
| ne | Se ne | Se ne prende => People take some of it. | |
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