Direct Pronouns - I pronomi diretti

Here we focus on one type of pronoun: “pronomi diretti”. To understand what these are, look at this example:

I like orange juice. I drink IT every day.

(IT represents “orange juice” – we use the pronoun as a sort of shorthand, to avoid the necessity of repeating the noun).

In Italian, pronouns are sometimes actually the same words as the definite article (the), which as you have already studied, and so change according to:

Study this examples and note how and why the article in the first sentence changes or remains the same when it is used as a pronoun in the second sentence.

Hai saputo di Sara? No, non vedo Sara da secoli

Hai saputo di Sara? No, non la vedo da secoli

Have you heard about Sara? No, I haven't seen her for ages.

Ti piace il gelato al cioccolato ? Certo! Mangio spesso il gelato al cioccolato

Ti piace il gelato al cioccolato ? Certo! Lo mangio spesso

Do you like chocolate ice-cream? Sure! I eat it often.

Another pronoun is “ne” which means “of it” or “of them” and is used when talking about quantity.

For example:

Quanto the bevi al giorno? Ne bevo tanto.

How much tea do you drink per day? I drink a lot of it