Learn how to use Italian unstressed direct object pronouns when you wish to employ an Italian object pronoun instead of a noun, but do not wish to stress it as the most important part of the sentence
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Cinzia: Hello everyone! I'm Cinzia, and welcome to ItalianPOD101. |
| Marco: With us, you'll learn to speak Italian with fun and effective lessons. |
| Cinzia: We also provide you with cultural insights |
| Marco: and tips you won't find in a textbook... |
| Marco: In this lesson we will start studying the first type of Italian direct object pronouns, the Pronomi personali atoni (unstressed personal pronouns). This conversation takes place at Laura and Martina's apartment |
| Cinzia: And it's between Laura and Martina They are friends, therefore they will be speaking informally |
| Cinzia: Listeners...I have a question... |
| Marco: A question? |
| Cinzia: Yep, I want to know when was the last time you commented? |
| Marco: Ahh, yes! Great question. |
| Cinzia: Stop by ItalianPOD101.com, leave us a comment or just say hi. |
| Marco: haha...okay, you heard Cinzia. |
| Marco: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Laura: Hai comprato il caffè? |
| Martina: Sì, l’ho comprato ieri. |
| Laura: Non lo trovo. Dove l’hai messo? |
| Martina: Ora lo cerco. |
| Laura: Ah, l’ho trovato! |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Laura: Hai comprato il caffè? |
| Martina: Sì, l’ho comprato ieri. |
| Laura: Non lo trovo. Dove l’hai messo? |
| Martina: Ora lo cerco. |
| Laura: Ah, l’ho trovato! |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Laura: Hai comprato il caffè? |
| Marco: Did you buy coffee? |
| Martina: Sì, l’ho comprato ieri. |
| Marco: Yes, I bought it yesterday. |
| Laura: Non lo trovo. Dove l’hai messo? |
| Marco: I can’t find it. Where did you put it? |
| Martina: Ora lo cerco. |
| Marco: I’ll look for it. |
| Laura: Ah, l’ho trovato! |
| Marco: Ah, found it! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Cinzia: In today’s dialogue we have a total of 5 personal pronouns! |
| Marco: Incredible how much we can use them in the Italian language. |
| Cinzia: We really hate repeating ourselves don’t we! |
| Marco: Or maybe we like talking with gestures so much we don’t need to repeat nouns so often! |
| Cinzia: We should have a podcast on Italian gestures! |
| Marco: Good idea! Dear listeners if you also think it is a good idea, let us know! |
| Cinzia: Yes, please let us know. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Cinzia: comprare [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to buy, to purchase |
| Cinzia: comprare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: comprare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cinzia: caffè [natural native speed] |
| Marco: coffee, espresso |
| Cinzia: caffè [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: caffè [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cinzia: ieri [natural native speed] |
| Marco: yesterday |
| Cinzia: ieri [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: ieri [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cinzia: trovare [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to find |
| Cinzia: trovare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: trovare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cinzia: dove [natural native speed] |
| Marco: where |
| Cinzia: dove [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: dove [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cinzia: mettere [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to put, put on |
| Cinzia: mettere [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: mettere [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Marco: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Cinzia: The first word we will look at is |
| comprare |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: Lo compro domani. |
| Marco: I’ll buy it tomorrow. |
| Cinzia: The next word/expression we will look at is |
| caffè |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: Un caffè macchiato, grazie. |
| Marco: A caffè macchiato, thank you. |
| Cinzia: The next word/expression we will look at is |
| ieri |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: Ieri sera sono uscito con Marta. |
| Marco: Yesterday evening I went out with Marta. |
| Cinzia: The next word/expression we will look at is |
| trovare |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: L’ho trovato! L’ho trovato! |
| Marco: I’ve found it! I’ve found it! |
| Cinzia: The next word/expression we will look at is |
| dove |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: Dove andiamo? |
| Marco: Where are we going? |
| Cinzia: Today's last word/expression is |
| mettere |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: Dove metto la valigia? |
| Marco: Where shall I put the suitcase? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Cinzia: Transitive verbs are followed by either direct object nouns or direct object pronouns, know as pronomi diretti. |
| Marco: Direct object pronouns substitute object nouns that have been previously mentioned or that can be clearly understood by the context they are inserted into. |
| Cinzia: Please remember that intransitive verbs are never followed by object nouns or pronouns. |
| Marco: There are two kinds of Italian direct object pronouns, today we shall see the first kind |
| Cinzia: Pronomi personali atoni |
| Marco: unstressed direct object pronouns |
| Cinzia: This is by far the most frequently used category. |
| Marco: These pronouns are used when we wish to employ an object pronoun instead of a noun, but do not wish to stress it as the most important part of the sentence. For instance |
| Cinzia: Il mio amico un panino al parco. |
| Marco: My friend eats a sandwich at the park. un panino is the direct object noun |
| Cinzia: Il mio amico lo mangia. |
| Marco: My friend eats it. lo is the direct object pronoun |
| Cinzia: Apro una confezione di cioccolatini. |
| Marco: I open a chocolate box. una confezione is the direct object noun |
| Cinzia: La apro. |
| Marco: I open it. la is the direct object pronoun |
| Cinzia: Please, note that since there is no neutral gender in Italian, nouns and pronouns can only be masculine or feminine. |
| Marco: If you are unsure about what gender an English word belongs to in Italian, look it up in a good dictionary. |
| Cinzia: Or just follow us! As we shall see so many Italian words you won't have any problems. |
| Marco: Excellent advice. |
| We shall now see the Italian unstressed personal pronouns, along with the corresponding direct object and their English translation. |
| Cinzia: I am going to say the Subject Personal pronoun in Italian |
| Marco: I will then say the Subject Personal pronoun in English. |
| Cinzia: Then I'll follow with the Italian Unstressed direct object pronoun |
| Marco: And finally the English Unstressed direct object pronoun. Here we go. |
| Cinzia: io |
| Marco: I |
| Cinzia: mi |
| Marco: me |
| Cinzia: tu |
| Marco: You |
| Cinzia: ti |
| Marco: you |
| Cinzia: lui |
| Marco: He |
| Cinzia: lo |
| Marco: him |
| Cinzia: lei |
| Marco: She |
| Cinzia: la |
| Marco: her |
| Cinzia: lui/lei* |
| Marco: It |
| Cinzia: lo/la |
| Marco: it |
| Cinzia: noi |
| Marco: We |
| Cinzia: ci** |
| Marco: us |
| Cinzia: voi |
| Marco: You |
| Cinzia: vi |
| Marco: you |
| Cinzia: loro |
| Marco: They |
| Cinzia: li (masculine); le (feminine) |
| Marco: them |
Outro |
| Marco: That just about does it for today. |
| Cinzia: Ready to test what you just learned? |
| Marco: Make this lesson's vocabulary stick by using lesson specific flashcards in the learning center. |
| Cinzia: There is a reason everyone uses flashcards... |
| Marco: They work... |
| Cinzia: They really do help memorization. |
| Marco: You can get the flashcards for this lesson at |
| Cinzia: ItalianPod101.com. |
| Marco: Okay.... |
| Marco: A presto! |
| Cinzia: Ciao! |
13 Comments
HideHi mohmed,
thanks for your feedback. I'm not sure if there's anything you could do about that, but you may want to send an email to contactus@italianpod101.com to find out.
As for getting a refund, that should be possible within 60 days since your subscription.
I hope this helps!
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
I like this website to the point I have bought the yearly subscription.
My only comment (and unfortunately I do not see anything could be done about it) is the aggressive marketing. In every lesson there are multiple references to marketing and sales which was fine at the beginning but has become so irritating.
In my opinion, there are two main reasons why we by service subscriptions, one is to get access to the full service and the second is to opt out of annoying sales, advert, marketing etc.
I tend to use the site much less as time goes by to the point I wish I could get a refund and opt out of it completely. I do not see anyway to avoid listening to pushing sales in every second sentence in the lesson!!!
Hi Heather Lee,
thanks for posting.
You can find more examples both in the Lesson Notes (click on Download as PDF) and in the Grammar Bank: https://www.italianpod101.com/italian-grammar/
Just type a keyword in the search bar (such as "unstressed") and you'll see more sample sentences.
Hope this helps!
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
Regarding the request for comments at the beginning of this lesson. As a beginner I found the un!stressed direct object pronouns difficult to understand. This lesson gives a table and just a couple examples. There needs to be more examples.
Hi Antonette,
Thank you for posting!
We don't have a podcast about gestures, but I agree that it would be really interesting ?
As for the song, here is all I can catch:
"Ciao a tutti! Benvenuti su ItalianPod101.com! oh figli miei..." the rest is not clear ?
A presto,
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Also, can you tell me what the song is at the beginning of each lesson and the translation? Given the frequency I am hearing it, I would love to know.
Is there a podcast on Italian gestures? I'd love to see it!
Hi Mehmet,
"Ci vediamo" literally means "We'll see each other in half an hour."
"Ci vediamo" can also be used as a way to say "goodbye" to a friend.
Grazie,
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Buona sera
There is a flashcard containing this sentence "Ci vediamo fra mezzora"
isnt it wrong? shouldnt it be
"ti vediamo fra mezzora"?
we will see you in half an hour. or is this something standard for the verb "vedere"?
Caro Ken,
Every example is correct except:
2. Frank ha chiesto due domande. Frank le ha chiestE. o Frank ha chiestole
And as you noticed "lo ha" usually takes the apostrophe "l’ha".
Anyway, thank you very much for your suggestions.:mrgreen:
"Useremo sicuramente i tuoi consigli per le prossime lezioni!"
Ciao a presto,
Consuelo