4. Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns are words that replace nouns and thus refer to people or things:
Giulia ha tanti amici.
Giulia has many friends.
Esce spesso con loro la sera.
She often goes out with them in the evening.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | io | noi |
| 2. | tu | voi |
| 3. m. | lui (egli, esso) | loro (essi) |
| f. | lei (ella, essa) | loro (esse) |
The 1. and 2. person pronouns do not inflect and are therefore identical in the feminine and masculine forms:
Tu sei il mio migliore amico.
You are my best friend.
Noi usciamo stasera.
We will go out tonight.
For the 3. person there are several options. The pronouns in brackets are very literary and are slowly disappearing from use. “Lui”, “lei” and “loro” have replaced these, especially in spoken language:
Lui sta studiando per l’esame di matematica.
He is studying for his math test.
Loro sono stanchi.
They are tired.
In Italian, it is extremely important to address older people and those you do not know formally. In schools, students must address their teachers politely and the same goes for employees and their bosses. The formal pronoun is “Lei”:
Signor Rossi, Lei parla tedesco?
Mr. Rossi, do you speak German?