Italian Object Pronouns: Direct, Indirect, “Ne”, and “Ci” (with Lots of Examples)

If you’ve ever heard Italian and thought, “Why did the sentence suddenly get shorter?”, the answer is often object pronouns:

• Lo vedo. (I see him/it.)
• Le parlo. (I talk to her.)
• Ne voglio due. (I want two of them.)
• Ci vado domani. (I’m going there tomorrow.)

In English we usually keep the “object” as a full noun (“to her”, “of it”, “there”). Italian loves replacing those repeated chunks with tiny words.

This guide gives you a practical system: what each pronoun does, where it goes, and the combinations you’ll actually use.

Table of Contents

• A quick map: what pronouns exist?
• Direct objects: mi/ti/lo/la/ci/vi/li/le
• Indirect objects: mi/ti/gli/le/ci/vi/gli
• Where do pronouns go? (word order)
• Two pronouns together: me lo, te la, glielo…
• “Ne” in real life (quantity, “di …”, and leaving)
• “Ci” in real life (there, about it, and fixed patterns)
• Passato prossimo: does the past participle agree?
• Mini-drills (practice)

A quick map: what pronouns exist?

Here’s the minimal “cheat sheet” you need. Don’t try to memorize everything at once—learn the patterns and steal the examples.

Direct object pronouns (who/what receives the action)

• mi = me
• ti = you (singular)
• lo = him / it (masculine singular)
• la = her / it (feminine singular)
• ci = us
• vi = you (plural)
• li = them (masculine plural)
• le = them (feminine plural)

Example: Vedo Marco. → Lo vedo.

Indirect object pronouns (to/for someone)

• mi = to me
• ti = to you
• gli = to him (and in modern Italian often also “to them”)
• le = to her
• ci = to us
• vi = to you (plural)

Example: Parlo a Lucia. → Le parlo.

Then there are two “special” pronouns that behave like objects but don’t map cleanly to English:

• ne ≈ of it / of them / some (of them) / from there
• ci ≈ there / about it / to it (and sometimes “us”)

Direct objects: mi/ti/lo/la/ci/vi/li/le

A direct object answers “who?” or “what?” after the verb.

• Mangi la pizza? → Sì, la mangio.
• Conosci Marco? → Sì, lo conosco.
• Vedi le chiavi? → Sì, le vedo.

Very common, very natural “chunks”:

• Lo so. = I know. (lit. “I know it.”)
• Non lo so. = I don’t know.
• La capisco. = I understand her / I understand it (fem.).
• Ti vedo domani. = I’ll see you tomorrow.

Indirect objects: mi/ti/gli/le/ci/vi

An indirect object is usually “to someone” or “for someone”. In Italian, it often comes from a phrase with a:

• Telefono a Marco. → Gli telefono.
• Scrivo a mia madre. → Le scrivo.
• Do il libro a te. → Ti do il libro.

Some verbs are strongly “indirect” in Italian even when English uses a direct object. The biggest one: piacere.

• Mi piace questa canzone. = I like this song. (lit. “This song is pleasing to me.”)
• Ti piace il caffè? = Do you like coffee?
• Gli piace viaggiare. = He likes traveling.

Where do pronouns go? (word order)

Most of the time, object pronouns go before a conjugated verb:

• Lo vedo. = I see him/it.
• Le parlo. = I talk to her.
• Non ti capisco. = I don’t understand you.

With an infinitive ("to + verb"), you have two options

• Before the helper verb: Lo voglio vedere. = I want to see him.
• Attached to the infinitive: Voglio vederlo. = I want to see him.

Both are correct. The attached form (vederlo, farlo, dirgli) is extremely common in speech.

With imperatives (commands), pronouns often attach

• Dimmi la verità. = Tell me the truth.
• Portalo qui. = Bring it here.
• Non lo fare! = Don’t do it!
• Fammi vedere. = Show me. (lit. “Make me see.”)

Two pronouns together: me lo, te la, glielo…

Italian can use two pronouns when you have both an indirect object (to someone) and a direct object (the thing).

Example: Lo do a Marco. (I give it to Marco.) → Glielo do.

The core combinations you’ll use the most

When an indirect pronoun comes before a direct pronoun, some forms change:

• mi + lo → me lo (e.g., Me lo dai? = Will you give it to me?)
• ti + la → te la (e.g., Te la porto domani. = I’ll bring it to you tomorrow.)
• gli + lo → glielo (e.g., Glielo spiego. = I’ll explain it to him.)
• le + lo → glielo (same combined form) (e.g., Glielo dico subito. = I’ll tell her right away.)
• ci + lo → ce lo (e.g., Ce lo racconti? = Will you tell it to us?)
• vi + la → ve la (e.g., Ve la mando. = I’ll send it to you (plural).)

A few high-frequency sentences to steal:

• Me lo puoi ripetere? = Can you repeat it to me?
• Te lo spiego. = I’ll explain it to you.
• Non glielo dire! = Don’t tell him/her!
• Ce l’hai? = Do you have it? (very common spoken form of Ce lo hai?)

“Ne” in real life (quantity, “di …”, and leaving)

Ne is one of the most useful pronouns because it replaces whole “di + noun” phrases and quantity phrases.

1) Quantities: “some (of them)”

• Quanti biglietti vuoi? Ne voglio due. = How many tickets do you want? I want two (of them).
• Hai del pane? Sì, ne ho un po’. = Do you have bread? Yes, I have some.
• Ne vuoi ancora? = Do you want some more?

2) Replacing “di …”

• Hai bisogno di aiuto? Sì, ne ho bisogno. = Do you need help? Yes, I need it.
• Sei sicuro di questa scelta? Ne sono sicuro. = Are you sure about this choice? I’m sure of it.
• Parliamo di politica? Ne parliamo dopo. = Are we talking about politics? We’ll talk about it later.

3) Leaving: “andarsene”

• Me ne vado. = I’m leaving.
• Te ne vuoi andare? = Do you want to leave?
• Andiamocene! = Let’s get out of here!

“Ci” in real life (there, about it, and fixed patterns)

Ci has a few super-common uses that are worth learning as ready-made blocks.

1) “Ci” = there (a place)

• Ci vado domani. = I’m going there tomorrow.
• Ci sei mai stato? = Have you ever been there?
• Non ci torno più. = I’m not going back there anymore.

2) “Ci” = about it / to it (with certain verbs)

With verbs like pensare a, riuscire a, credere a, Italian often uses ci:

• Ci penso io. = I’ll take care of it.
• Non ci credo! = I can’t believe it!
• Ci riesci? = Can you manage it?

3) Fixed patterns: “c’è / ci sono” and “ci vuole”

• C’è un problema. = There’s a problem.
• Ci sono due opzioni. = There are two options.
• Ci vuole tempo. = It takes time.
• Ci vogliono tre ore. = It takes three hours.

Passato prossimo: does the past participle agree?

This is where learners often panic. Here’s the practical version:

• With avere, the past participle can agree with a direct object pronoun that comes before the verb (and in many contexts it does in standard Italian).
• With indirect pronouns (gli/le/mi/ti meaning “to someone”), you generally don’t do that kind of agreement.

Examples (direct object pronoun → agreement):

• Hai visto Maria? Sì, l’ho vista.
• Hai comprato le scarpe? Sì, le ho comprate.
• Hai letto i libri? Sì, li ho letti.

Examples (indirect pronoun → no agreement focus):

• Hai telefonato a Marco? Sì, gli ho telefonato.
• Hai scritto a Lucia? Sì, le ho scritto.

Spoken Italian can be more relaxed, but if you’re aiming for clean, “textbook-correct” Italian, the agreement examples above are worth copying.

Mini-drills (practice)

Try turning the second sentence into a pronoun sentence.

1. Vedi Marco? → Sì, ______ vedo. (Answer: lo)
2. Parli a Lucia? → Sì, ______ parlo. (Answer: le)
3. Hai le chiavi? → Sì, ______ ho. (Answer: le)
4. Quante copie vuoi? → ______ voglio tre. (Answer: ne)
5. Vai in ufficio? → Sì, ______ vado adesso. (Answer: ci)
6. Hai visto Maria? → Sì, ______ ho vista. (Answer: l’)

Speaking drill: say these out loud until they feel like one word: non lo so, me lo puoi ripetere, glielo dico, ne voglio due, ci penso io, andiamocene.