Learn how to use direct object pronouns
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 continue our study of the first type of Italian direct object pronouns, the pronomi personali atoni This conversation takes place at Laura and Martina's apartment |
| Cinzia: And it's between Laura and Martina Since they are friends they will be speaking informally |
| Marco: |
| Cinzia: |
| Marco: Now, before we listen to the conversation... |
| Cinzia: We want to ask... |
| Marco: Do you read the lesson notes, while you listen? |
| Cinzia: We received an e-mail about this study tip. |
| Marco: So we were wondering if you've tried it, and if so, |
| Cinzia: what do you think of it. |
| Marco: You can leave us feedback in the comment section of this lesson. Okay... |
| Marco: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Laura: Hai pagato le bollette? |
| Martina: Oddio, non le ho ancora pagate! |
| Laura: Entro quando dobbiamo pagarle? |
| Martina: Ora guardo. Entro giovedì prossimo. |
| Laura: Siamo ancora in tempo. |
| Martina: Vado domani mattina presto. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Laura: Hai pagato le bollette? |
| Martina: Oddio, non le ho ancora pagate! |
| Laura: Entro quando dobbiamo pagarle? |
| Martina: Ora guardo. Entro giovedì prossimo. |
| Laura: Siamo ancora in tempo. |
| Martina: Vado domani mattina presto. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Laura: Hai pagato le bollette? |
| Marco: Did you pay the bills? |
| Martina: Oddio, non le ho ancora pagate! |
| Marco: My goodness, I still haven’t paid them! |
| Laura: Entro quando dobbiamo pagarle? |
| Marco: By when do we have to pay them? |
| Martina: Ora guardo. Entro giovedì prossimo. |
| Marco: Let me see, by next Thursday. |
| Laura: Siamo ancora in tempo. |
| Marco: We are still in time. |
| Martina: Vado domani mattina presto. |
| Marco: I’ll go early tomorrow morning. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Cinzia: In Italy you can pay house bills like the water or electricity bill at the post office. |
| Marco: Or you can also pay the bills of some companies at the tabaccaio. The tobacco shop. |
| Cinzia: Also called tabacchino! |
| Marco: Yes, you are absolutely right Cinzia. |
| Cinzia: If you have bills to pay, be careful about the due date. |
| Marco: Or you might have to pay a fee for late payment. |
| Cinzia: So try to be on time! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Cinzia: bolletta [natural native speed] |
| Marco: bill |
| Cinzia: bolletta [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: bolletta [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cinzia: oddio [natural native speed] |
| Marco: my goodness, good grief, good Heavens, my God |
| Cinzia: oddio [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: oddio [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cinzia: pagare [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to pay |
| Cinzia: pagare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: pagare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cinzia: entro [natural native speed] |
| Marco: within, by |
| Cinzia: entro [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: entro [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cinzia: giovedì [natural native speed] |
| Marco: Thursday |
| Cinzia: giovedì [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: giovedì [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cinzia: prossimo [natural native speed] |
| Marco: next, upcoming, forthcoming |
| Cinzia: prossimo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: prossimo [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 |
| bolletta |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: È arrivata la bolletta del gas. |
| Marco: The gas bill has arrived. |
| Cinzia: The next word/expression we will look at is |
| oddio |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: Oddio! Cosa ti è successo? |
| Marco: My God! What happened to you? |
| Cinzia: The next word/expression we will look at is |
| pagare |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: Questa sera pago io. |
| Marco: This evening I'll pay. |
| Cinzia: The next word/expression we will look at is |
| entro |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: Dobbiamo trovare una nuova casa entro domani. |
| Marco: We have to find a new house by tomorrow. |
| Cinzia: The next word/expression we will look at is |
| giovedì |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: Giovedì ho un appuntamento con Marta. |
| Marco: Thursday I have a date with Marta. |
| Cinzia: Today's last word/expression is |
| prossimo |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: La prossima volta guido io. |
| Marco: Next time I’ll drive. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Marco: Direct object pronouns are inserted right before the verb they are attached to in both simple and compound tenses. For example |
| Cinzia: Compro una macchina nuova di zecca. → La compro. |
| Marco: I buy a brand-new car. → I buy it. |
| Cinzia: Ho venduto la mia vecchia playstation. → L'ho venduta. |
| Marco: I sold my old playstation. → I sold it. |
| Cinzia: Ieri ho visto Mary e Anne. → Ieri le ho viste. |
| Marco: Yesterday I saw Mary and Anne. → Yesterday I saw them. |
| Marco: The third singular person direct object pronouns, lo (him) and la (her), drop their ending vowel before the auxiliary avere (to have) in compound tenses and add the apostrophe. |
| Cinzia: In contemporary Italian, the remaining direct object pronouns usually keep their ending vowels, though they may be dropped to achieve stylistic poetical effects. |
| Marco: Here are some examples |
| Cinzia: Ho abbracciato mio fratello. → L'ho abbracciato. |
| Marco: I hugged my brother. → I hugged him. |
| Cinzia: Avrei aiutato Marta. → L'avrei aiutata. |
| Marco: I would have helped Marta. → I would have helped her. |
| Cinzia: Hanno osservato loro figlia a lungo. → L'hanno osservata a lungo. |
| Marco: They looked at their daughter for a long time. → They looked at her for long time. |
| Cinzia: Serena ama me. → Serena mi ama/m'ama. |
| Marco: Serena loves me. → Serena loves me. |
| Cinzia: Marco ha invitato voi alla festa. → Marco vi ha/v'ha invitato alla festa. |
| Marco: Marco invited you to the party. → Marco invited you at the party. |
| Marco: As shown in the examples above, when using direct object pronouns in compound tenses, the past participle of the main verb agrees to the gender and number of the pronoun(s) it's attached to. |
| Cinzia: In negative statements, the particle non is positioned before direct object pronouns. Marco |
| Cinzia: Non ho aperto la porta. → Non l'ho aperta. |
| Marco: I didn't open the door. → I didn't open it. |
| Cinzia: Non prendo la caramella. → Non la prendo. |
| Marco: I don't take the candy. → I don't take it. |
| Cinzia: Non scrivo la lettera. → Non la scrivo. |
| Marco: I don't write the letter. → I don't write it. |
| Cinzia: When unstressed direct object pronouns refer to verb in its infinitive form, they are directly attached to it, obeying the following procedure |
| Marco: 1st - drop the ending vowel (e) of the infinitive |
| 2nd - add the unstressed object pronouns |
| For instance |
| Cinzia: È opportuno aspettare Carla. → È opportuno aspettarla. |
| Marco: It's appropriate to wait for Carla. → It's appropriate to wait for her. |
| Cinzia: È salutare mangiare frutta. → È salutare mangiarla. |
| Marco: Eating fruit is healthy. → Eating it is healthy. |
| Cinzia: Dobbiamo andare a trovare Antonio e Luigi. → Dobbiamo andare a trovarli. |
| Marco: We need to go visit Antonio and Luigi. → We need to go visit them. |
Outro |
| Marco: That just about does it for today. |
| Marco: Okay, some of our listeners already know about the most powerful tool on ItalianPOD101.com.... |
| Cinzia: line-by-line audio. |
| Marco: The perfect tool for rapidly improving listening comprehension... |
| Cinzia: by listening to lines of the conversation again and again. |
| Marco: Listen until every word and syllable becomes clear. Basically, we breakdown the dialog into comprehensible, bite-size sentences. |
| Cinzia: You can try the line-by-line audio in the Premium Learning Center at ItalianPOD101.com. |
| Marco: [ transition phrase ] |
| Marco: Arrivederci! |
| Cinzia: A presto! |
Comments
Hide