Table of Contents
In the last lesson we learned “him” and “her”. Now we learn “to him” and “to her”: the indirect object pronouns. They answer the question “to whom?”. I give the book to whom? To him. This lesson also unlocks the most famous Italian verb construction: PIACERE, the way Italians say they like something.
The indirect pronouns
| mi | to me |
| ti | to you |
| gli | to him |
| le | to her / to you (formal: Le) |
| ci | to us |
| vi | to you (plural) |
| gli | to them |
Compare with the direct pronouns: only the third person is different. LO/LA/LI/LE become GLI (to him, to them) and LE (to her). Everything else (mi, ti, ci, vi) stays the same, and the position rules are the same too: before the verb, or attached to an infinitive.
Scrivo una mail a Marco – Gli scrivo una mail (I write him an email)
Telefono a mia madre – Le telefono ogni giorno (I call her every day)
Che cosa regali ai bambini? – Gli regalo un gioco (I give them a game as a present)
Mi puoi passare il sale? – Can you pass me the salt?
Typical verbs that take an indirect object: dare (to give), dire (to say), scrivere (to write), telefonare (to phone), rispondere (to answer), regalare (to give as a present), chiedere (to ask), mandare (to send), mostrare (to show).
The verb PIACERE – to like
Here is the twist: Italian has no direct equivalent of “I like pizza”. Italians say “Pizza is pleasing to me“: Mi piace la pizza. The thing you like is the subject of the sentence, and you are the indirect object.
Because of that, PIACERE almost always appears in just two forms:
PIACE when the liked thing is singular (or a verb):
Mi piace il gelato – I like ice cream
Ti piace viaggiare? – Do you like traveling?
Le piace questa città – She likes this city
PIACCIONO when the liked things are plural:
Mi piacciono i film italiani – I like Italian movies
Non gli piacciono i cani – He doesn’t like dogs
Vi piacciono queste scarpe? – Do you like these shoes?
To say who likes something by name, use A + the name:
A Marco piace il calcio – Marco likes soccer
Ai bambini piacciono i dolci – Children like sweets
PIACERE in the past
PIACERE takes ESSERE in Passato Prossimo, and the participle agrees with the liked thing:
Ti è piaciuto il film? – Did you like the movie?
Mi è piaciuta la cena – I liked the dinner
Ci sono piaciuti i musei – We liked the museums
Non mi sono piaciute le foto – I didn’t like the photos
Verbs that work like PIACERE
A few other verbs use the same construction:
servire – to be needed (Mi serve una penna – I need a pen)
mancare – to be missing (Mi manchi – I miss you, literally: you are missing to me)
sembrare – to seem (Mi sembra una buona idea – It seems like a good idea to me)
interessare – to interest (Non mi interessa – I’m not interested)
Examples
Gli ho detto la verità – I told him the truth
Le ho mandato un messaggio, ma non mi ha risposto – I sent her a message, but she didn’t answer me
Ti piace la cucina italiana? Mi piace moltissimo – Do you like Italian cooking? I like it a lot
A mia moglie non piacciono i ristoranti rumorosi – My wife doesn’t like noisy restaurants
Vi è piaciuta la lezione? – Did you like the lesson?
Mi serve il tuo aiuto – I need your help
Ci manca il mare – We miss the sea
Questo film mi sembra noioso – This movie seems boring to me
Vocabulary
| piacere – to be pleasing
telefonare – to phone regalare – to give as a present chiedere – to ask mandare – to send mostrare – to show servire – to be needed |
mancare – to be missing
sembrare – to seem messaggio – message sale – salt aiuto – help idea – idea noioso / noiosa – boring |
Exercises
1. Replace the person with an indirect pronoun (gli, le, mi, ti, ci, vi)
- Scrivo a Paolo ogni settimana – ______ scrivo ogni settimana
- Telefoniamo a nostra nonna – ______ telefoniamo
- Rispondo ai clienti – ______ rispondo
- Il cameriere porta il menu a me – Il cameriere ______ porta il menu
2. PIACE or PIACCIONO?
- Mi ______________ la musica classica
- Ti ______________ gli spaghetti?
- Non ci ______________ questo albergo
- Vi ______________ le lingue straniere?
- A Luca ______________ cucinare
- Mi ______________ molto i tuoi occhi
Answers:
Exercise 1 – 1: Gli; 2: Le; 3: Gli; 4: mi
Exercise 2 – 1: piace; 2: piacciono; 3: piace; 4: piacciono; 5: piace; 6: piacciono