Intermediate
6 min readDouble pronouns: me lo, glielo and friends
How to say 'give it to me' — the indirect pronoun goes first and changes shape.
The order and the spelling change
When an indirect and a direct pronoun appear together, the indirect one comes first, and mi, ti, ci, vi turn into me, te, ce, ve.
Gli and le (to him / to her / formal to you) both become glie- and fuse with the direct pronoun into one word: glielo, gliela, glieli, gliele, gliene.
| + lo | + la | + li | + le | + ne | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mi | me lo | me la | me li | me le | me ne |
| ti | te lo | te la | te li | te le | te ne |
| gli / le | glielo | gliela | glieli | gliele | gliene |
| ci | ce lo | ce la | ce li | ce le | ce ne |
| vi | ve lo | ve la | ve li | ve le | ve ne |
Agreement in compound tenses
With avere, the past participle agrees with a preceding lo, la, li, le: Gliel'ho data (la lettera), Te li ho comprati (i biglietti).
- Il libro? Te lo presto domani.The book? I'll lend it to you tomorrow.
- La foto? Gliel'ho mandata ieri.The photo? I sent it to him/her yesterday.
- Quante mele? Me ne dai due?How many apples? Will you give me two (of them)?
Common mistakes
Mi lo dai?
Me lo dai?
Before lo/la/li/le/ne, mi becomes me.
Le lo do.
Glielo do.
Le (to her) becomes glie- and fuses: glielo.
Lo mi dai?
Me lo dai?
The indirect pronoun always comes first.
Test yourself
0 / 4 answered1. Il libro? ___ presto io. (to you)
2. La lettera? ___ mando domani. (to her)
3. Le scarpe? Me le hai ___?
4. Quanti biscotti? ___ dai tre?