Can you remember how to say “I love you” in Italian?
Ti amo.
The “ti” in “ti amo” is a romantic example of a direct pronoun in Italian.
But in today’s episode, we’re talking about the darker side of love.
Those annoying habits we have that drive each other mad.
Find out what they are and learn how to use direct object pronouns in episode 53 of 5 Minute Italian.
To help you remember what you learnt in today’s lesson, below you’ll find bonus materials including word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first…
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Bonus Materials
Remember what you learnt with the bonus materials for today’s episode.
Direct Object Pronouns in Italian
| Direct object pronoun | Example |
| Mi
Me | Mi chiami = You call me (lit. me, you call) |
| Ti
You informal | Ti chiamo = I call you |
| Lo
| Lo chiamo = I call him
Lo mangio = I eat it (e.g. il gelato) |
| La
| La chiamo
La mangio = I eat it (e.g. la pizza) |
| Ci
Us | Ci chiami = You call us |
| Vi
You plural | Vi chiamo = I call you
(speaking to two or more people) |
| Le
Them (female group) | Le chiamo = I call them
(group of girls or women) |
| Li
Them (male or mixed group) | Li chiamo = I call them
(group of men or mixed) |
Today’s Italian words
Ti do fastidio a volte? = do I annoy you at times?
Ti = You
Do = I give
Fastidio = annoyance
A volte = sometimes
Certo! = of course!
Quando? = when?
Quando ti chiamo ma non rispondi mai = when I call you but you never answer.
Quando = when
Ti = you
Chiamo = I call
Ma = but
Non = not
Rispondi = respond/answer
Mai = never
E io? = And me?
Ti do fastidio a volte? = Do I annoy you sometimes?
Certo! Per esempio quando qualcuno ci invita a fare qualcosa ma non vuoi andare perchè ti senti un po’ pigro = Of course, when someone invites us to do something but you don’t want to go because you feel a bit lazy.
certo = of course
per esempio = for example
quando = when
qualcuno = someone
ci = us
invita = invites
a fare = to do
qualcosa = something
ma = but
non vuoi = you don’t want
andare = to go
perchè = because
ti senti = you feel
un po’ = a bit
pigro = lazy
Mi = me
Mi chiami = you call me
Lo = him
Lo chiamo = I call him
La = her
La chiamo = I call her
La chiamo = I call you (formal – male or female)
Ci = us
Ci chiami = you call us
Vi = you plural
Vi chiamo = I call you (both/all)
Le = them (group of girls or women)
Le chiamo (I call them – females)
Li = them (group of men or mixed)
Li chiamo (I call them – males or mixed)
Take the Quiz!
How much did you learn? Find out in the 5-minute Italian quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Direct object Pronouns in Italian: Mi, Ti, Lo, La, Ci, Vi, Li, Le
Italian flashcards
Remember the vocabulary from your 5 Minute Italian lessons by downloading the digital flashcard pack.
- Download the flashcards: [5MI_53] Direct Object Pronouns Mi, Ti, Lo, La, Ci, Vi, Li, Le
- Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial.
Transcript
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
Katie: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 Minute Italian, I’m Katie.
Matteo: And I’m Matteo.
K: In today’s lesson, we’re going to continue learning about direct object pronouns in Italian. If you missed last week’s introduction to direct pronouns, you might find it handy to go back and listen before coming back here.
M: But for now, let’s get started with today’s lesson. Ascoltiamo la conversazione (let’s listen to the conversation).
K: Matteo, ti do fastidio a volte?
M: Certo!
K: Quando?
M: Quando ti chiamo ma non rispondi mai. E io? Ti do fastidio a volte?
K: Certo! Per esempio quando qualcuno ci invita a fare qualcosa ma non vuoi andare perchè ti senti un po’ pigro =
K: Today’s episode is all about those little things Matteo and I do that gets on each other’s nerves at times. First, you heard me ask the question:
M: Matteo, ti do fastidio a volte?
K: Matteo, do I annoy you sometimes? Here’s a useful phrase “dare fastidio” which means to annoy someone. The literal meaning is to give annoyance. The whole sentence is:
M:
Ti = You
Do = I give
Fastidio = annoyance
A volte = sometimes
K: Next, you heard Matteo say:
M: “Certo!”
K: Of course! We’re a couple, so of course I do “dare fastidio” or annoy Matteo at times. Then you heard me ask:
M: Quando?
K: When? And Matteo’s answer:
M: Quando ti chiamo ma non rispondi mai.
K: When I call you but you never answer
M:
Quando = when
Ti = you
Chiamo = I call
Ma = but
Non = not
Rispondi = respond/answer
Mai = never
M: It’s true, she never answers her phone, ever.
K: I’m a freelancer, so I have to put my phone in the other room or I can’t get any work done. I’d strap a bomb to it or throw it out of the window if I could!
Let’s look closer at the phrase “ti chiamo”, which means “I call you”, literally, “you, I call”
M: This is another example of how Italians speak backwards like yoda.
K: The “ti” here is a direct object pronoun. It’s another example of the words we looked at last week, which tell you who or what receives or undergoes the action. For example, if you’re talking about “gelato” and you say “lo mangio” (I eat it). It (lo) refers to the gelato, the thing being eaten. Here “ti” refers to you, the person being called.
Next, Matteo asked:
M: E io?
K: And me?
M: Ti do fastidio a volte?
K: Do I annoy you sometimes? And my answer was:
M: Certo! Per esempio quando qualcuno ci invita a fare qualcosa ma non ma non vuoi andare perchè ti senti un po’ pigro =
K: Of course, when someone invites us to do something but you don’t want to go because you feel a bit lazy.
M:
certo = of course
per esempio = for example
quando = when
qualcuno = someone
ci = us
invita = invites
a fare = to do
qualcosa = something
ma = but
non vuoi = you don’t want
andare = to go
perchè = because
ti senti = you feel
un po’ = a bit
pigro = lazy
K: Let’s look closer at “ci invita” which is invites us. Ci means us. Invita means invites. If we say “someone invites us”, “us” are the people who are invited, the people who receive the action.
M: In Italian, we put this before the verb, so we get “ci invita”
K: Literally, us invites. So in “ti chiamo”, we learnt the direct object pronoun for you (ti) and in “ci invita” we learnt the direct object pronoun for “us” (ci). What about the others?
M: For me it’s simple, “Mi”.
K: So if “you call” is “chiami”, how would you say “you call me” (remember it’s me, you call)
M: Mi chiami.
K: Him is “lo”. I call is “chiamo” So how would you say “I call him?”
M: Lo chiamo
K: Her is “la”. So how would you say “I call her?”
M: La chiamo
K: And we also use this for the formal you, for both men and women. I know it feels weird to use “la” which is normally “her” for men, but that’s how it is in Italian. So how would you say “I’ll call you” to a male hotel receptionist or client?
M: La chiamo.
K: And to a female one?
M: It’s the same: La chiamo.
K: We know that “us” is “ci”. You call is “chiami” So how would you say you call us?
M: Ci chiami
K: You plural, as in “you all, you both or y’all” is “vi”. I call is “chiamo”. So how would you say “I call you” in the plural form?
M: Vi chiamo.
K: Them, for a group of girls or women, is “le”. So how would you say “I call them” for a group of women?
M: Le chiamo.
K: Them if we’re speaking about a group of men, or a mixed group, is “li”. So how would you say “I call them”, if it’s a group or men or mixed?
M: Li chiamo.
K: It helps if you can see these all together, so we’ve put together a table with examples on our website. You can find this by heading over to www.joyoflanguages.com/italianpodcast and scroll down to this episode, or following the link in the show notes to go straight there. You can also practice your Italian with us by joining our Facebook group, you’ll find the link in the show notes too. Ciao for now, or as we say in Italian:
M: Alla prossima!
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