Gender and number of past participle

Discussing compound tenses in previous paragraphs, it had been stated that the Italian past participle (in the above case, visto) is gender- and number-insensitive when the auxiliary verb is avere, while it is gender- and number-sensitive when the auxiliary verb is essere (ar required by many intransitive verbs).
When using personal pronouns as a direct object, though, also participles supported by verb avere require a match with gender and number of the pronoun.
Focus the following examples:

ho visto un treno = I have seen a train
ho visto quattro treni = I have seen four trains
ho visto una farfalla = I have seen a butterfly
ho visto tre farfalle = I have seen three butterflies
...BUT
lo ho visto = I have seen it (masculine in Italian)
li ho visti = I have seen them (masculine)
la ho vista = I have seen it (feminine in Italian)
le ho viste = I have seen them (feminine)

In the first group of sentences, participle visto is in masculine singular form ("standard" form), gender- and number-insensitive because supported by auxiliary verb avere.
In the second group of sentences, the same participle becomes gender- and number-sensitive, because personal pronouns are used as objects.

Obviously, this rule applies to every other person:

hai visto un amico = you have seen a friend
lo hai visto = you have seen him

hanno visto una mostra = they have seen an exhibition
la hanno vista = they have seen it (neutre turns feminine in Italian)

avevamo visto molte nuvole = we had seen many clouds
le avevamo viste = we had seen them (feminine)

avranno visto la televisione = they might have watched the TV
la avranno vista = they might have watched it (feminine)

ha visto molti film = he/she has seen many movies
li ha visti = he/she has seen them (masculine)

avevo visto le indicazioni = I had seen the notices
le avevo viste = I had seen them (feminine)

In the same way that definite articles la and lo are shortened by dropping their last vowel and taking an apostrophe when followed by a vowel (i.e. l'occhio, l'aria, l'edera, l'uovo, etc.), also pronouns with the same spelling undergo the same phonetic change when they are followed by inflections of verb avere (because almost every inflection starts with a...). Also when verb inflections start with ha..., the same change occurs because h is mute, considered as a mere graphic sign, simply to tell the verb from other similar words spelled without an h (see again paragraph 4.4 about this topic).

As a general rule:

· the change always occurs when la comes before a... or ha...:

la abbiamo = l'abbiamo · · · · · la hai = l'hai · · · · · la hanno = l'hanno

· the change might occur when lo comes before a... or ha..., but you may also leave things as they are (as a free choice):

lo avevate is correct, but also l'avevate is OK · · · · · lo hai, but also l'hai

· no change occurs when any other personal pronoun (li, le, mi, ti, ci, vi) comes before a... or ha...

Therefore, some of the sentences given in the previous example (see above) need a slight "retouch":

lo hai visto
is correct, but it can also be spelled (and pronounced)
l'hai visto

la hanno vista
must be spelled (and pronounced)
l'hanno vista

la avranno vista
must be spelled (and pronounced)
l'avranno vista

 

Instead, other ones do not change, according to the general rules explained above.

Although it might appear complicated, as a final note to this page I would like to show a comparison between a transitive verb supported by avere as an auxiliary verb, and an intransitive verb supported by essere.
The verbs will be vedere (to see, to watch), and tornare (to return, to come back).
As usual, focus the examples, which will be discussed:

 

ha visto he/she has seen	è tornato he/it has come back	è tornata she has come back
hanno visto they have seen	sono tornati they have come back (masc.)	sono tornate they have come back (fem.)

What you can notice up to here is that the past participle visto is gender- and number-insensitive, because supported by verb avere.
Past participle tornato, instead, needs to match the gender and number of the subject.

Now let's see what happens to visto by adding a personal pronoun as direct object (obviously tornato cannot have a direct object, being the verb intransitive).

 

lo ha visto he/she has seen him/it	l'ha vista he/she has seen her
li ha visti he has seen them (masc.)	le ha viste he has seen them (fem.)

Can you notice the big difference?
Now visto is no longer insensitive, though what it will match is the gender and number of the object (i.e. of the pronoun), not the subject's.

This is a very important concept, which should be focused and understood before going any further, so to avoid getting mixed up with the two situations.

Summarizing once again, past participles supported by avere only become gender- and number-sensitive when the object is a personal pronoun: in this case they match the object (i.e. the same personal pronoun). In any other case they use the "standard" form (masculine singular).
The part participle of intransitive verbs requiring essere, instead, always has to match the subject's own gender and number. Since these verbs are intransitive, they will never have personal pronouns as direct object (nor any other direct object at all).

 

8.2   PERSONAL PRONOUNS IN DATIVE CASE

Dative (from the Latin dare = to give) is the case which indicates the receiver of an action ("you gave something to me", or "you gave me something"), either materially or in a metaphoric sense ("he tells something to you", "you buy him something", etc.).

As for direct objects, Italian has two possible ways of translating dative: by using a "full" personal pronoun, or by using a "short" form.

The "full" pronouns are the same as direct object's ones, but to show dative case they must be introduced by simple preposition a (or ad if followed by a vowel), meaning to:

 

		singular			plural
1st person		a me	to me		a noi	to us
2nd person		a te	to you (singular)		a voi	to you (plural)
3rd person		a lui a lei ad esso ad essa	to himto herto it (masculine) to it (feminine)		a loro	to them

The "short" pronouns too are the same as direct object's ones, except for 3rd persons, which have different ones.
These forms do no longer require preposition a:

 

		singular			plural
1st person		mi	to me		ci	to us
2nd person		ti	to you (singular)		vi	to you (plural)
3rd person		gli le	to him, to itto her, to it		loro (no change)	to them

The 3rd plural form loro does not behave as all the other short forms: the latter are sometimes used as suffixes, and sometimes used before the verb; loro instead always behaves as the "full" pronouns, following the verb. Anyway, this will be explained in detail.

Since many of the pronouns used for dative case are in common with the ones used as direct object, according to the action described by the verb they will either mean me or to me, you or to you, him or to him, etc. etc.

 

 

USE OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS IN DATIVE CASE

Their use is very similar to direct object.

 

INFINITIVE

As a general rule, the infinitive tense uses the "short" pronouns as suffixes, dropping the last vowel of the tense's inflection (vowel e):

 

regalare = to give (a present, a gift)

 

regalarmi = to give me	regalarci = to give us
regalarti = to give you	regalarvi = to give you, plural
regalargli = to give him regalarle = to give her	regalare loro = to give them

 

The direct object of the sentence always follows the pronoun suffix:

regalarti una penna = to give you a pen
regalarle un anello = to give her a ring
regalarvi un'automobile nuova = to give you a new car
regalare loro un libro = to give them a book

Notice how only loro does not bind to the verb because, as previously mentioned, this pronoun is only used as a "full" form, following the verb not as a suffix, although it belongs to the "short" pronouns.

The same forms shown above can be used with any other verb:

dare = to give - dargli = to give him
passare = to pass - passarle = to pass her
comprare = to buy - comprarvi = to buy you (plural)
scrivere = to write - scivere loro = to write them

Obviously, only verbs who express a "giving" action would require dative case. So, according to the verb, you can use the same pronoun suffixes as dative or as direct object:

dare = to give - darci una penna = to give us a pen (- ci is dative)
vedere = to see - vederci = to see us (- ci is direct object)
scrivere = to write - scivervi una lettera = to write you (plural) a letter (- vi is dative)
ringraziare = to thank - ringraziarvi per il regalo = to thank you (plural) for the present (- vi is direct object)

3rd persons, instead, have different "short" forms, according to whether they are used for dative or for direct object:

dare = to give - dargli una penna = to give him a pen (- gli can only be dative)
vedere = to see - vederlo = to see him/it (- lo can only be direct object)
scrivere = to write - sciverle una lettera = to write her a letter (- le can only be dative)
ringraziare = to thank - ringraziarla per l'invito = to thank her for the invitation (- la can only be direct object)
comprare = to buy - comprare loro un regalo = to buy them a present (loro is dative)
rimproverare = to reproach - rimproverarli per il ritardo = to reproach them for the delay (- li can only be direct object)

For the sake of precision, it should be said that loro may sometimes act also a direct object, see previous paragraph 8.1, though with an emphatic sense (meaning "right them, not somebody else"), sparingly used. So in most cases loro acts as a dative.

Also for dative case it is possible to use the other form, i.e. the "full" pronoun after the verb, though this requires the use of preposition a.
This form gives much more emphasis to the pronoun:

regalare a me = to give to me (meaning "to me, not to others")
regalare a te = to give to you
regalare a loro = to give to them

Notice how loro never binds to the verb, but only in this last case it requires preposition a.
Without the preposition a, these pronouns would indicate a direct object.
In this emphasized form, direct object has to be used before the pronoun:

regalare la penna a me = to give the pen to me (meaning "to me, not to others")
regalare un libro a te = to give a book to you
regalare qualcosa a loro = to give something to them

So, to summarize dative case for the infinitive tense:

 

	common form	emphatic form
without direct object	infinitive-suffix	infinitive + a + "full" pronoun
with direct object	infinitive-suffix + direct object	infinitive + direct object + a + "full" pronoun

 

INDICATIVE TENSES

All indicative tenses require these pronouns before the verb.

mi regalo = I give myself (literally: I give me)
ti regalo = I give you
gli regalo = I give him
le regalo = I give her
vi regalo = I give you (plural)
regalo loro = I give them

Two observations:

· ci is not used with 1st persons (exactly as it happens for direct object, see previous paragraph), but it is normally used with all other persons:
ci regali = you give us
ci regala = he/she gives us
ci regalano = they give us, etc...

 

· loro is always used after the verb, although it has the same meaning as the "short" forms.

Also indicative tenses may use the other form, a full pronoun after the verb, to give the pronoun more emphasis:

le regalo un libro = I give her a book (plain form, no emphasis)
...may also be turned into:
regalo un libro a lei (emphasis on her)
...but also into this other form:
a lei regalo un libro (emphasis on her)

 

As you see in the first emphasized form, when "full" dative pronouns are used, the direct object (i.e. un libro) is placed before the pronoun, meaning "I give a book to her (not to somebody else)".

The second form, instead, uses again the same "full" dative pronoun, but this time at the beginning of the sentence, with a meaning of "I give a book to her (while I give others something else)".
Here is another example:

gli scriverò una lettera = I'll write him a letter (no emphasis)

scriverò una lettera a lui, "I'll write a letter to him " ("...not to somebody else")

a lui scriverò una lettera, again emphasis on "to him ", but meaning something like "...while I'll talk to others"

 

So, to summarize dative case for all indicative tenses:

 

	common form	emphatic forms
without direct object	"short" pronoun + verb	verb + a + "full" pronoun
with direct object	"short" pronoun + verb + direct object	verb + direct object + a + "full" pronoun and, with different meaning, a + "full" pronoun+ verb + direct object

 

8.3 PERSONAL PRONOUNS USED IN REFLEXIVE FORM

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It had been mentioned in paragraph 8.1 that the same personal pronouns used as direct objects are also the Italian equivalents for myself, yourself, himself, etc.
When the verb's person is the same as the pronoun's person (or, to put this concept in other words, when the subject of the sentence and the direct object are the same person), pronouns turn to be myself, yourself, himself, etc.
For instance, "I dress myself", "you wash yourself", "we see ourselves", etc.
This form is called reflexive.

When reflexive forms are referred to singular persons, they often mean "the subject carries out the action by himself", while when they are referred to plural persons reflexive may also mean "the subjects carry out the action mutually": for example, "we wash ourselves" means "each of us washes himself", but "we see ourselves" generally means "each of us sees the others, in a mutual way".

Reflexive pronouns in Italian are the same "short" forms as the ones discussed in the previous paragraphs, except for 3rd persons (which use one same form for singular and plural):

		singular			plural
1st person		mi	myself		ci	ourselves
2nd person		ti	yourself		vi	yourselves
3rd person		si	himself / herself / itself		si	themselves

 

lavare = to wash

mi lavo = I wash myself
ti lavi = you wash yourself
si lava = he/she washes him/herself
ci laviamo = we wash ourselves
vi lavate = you wash yourselves
si lavano = they wash themselves

Also infinitive tense works exactly as for direct object and dative case:

lavarmi = to wash myself
lavarti = to wash yourself
lavarsi = to wash him/herself or themselves
lavarci = to wash ourselves
lavarvi = to wash yourselves

Notice how the 3rd persons (singular and plural) use the same form si. So, when using this pronoun, the verb's inflection will tell whether it refers to a singular or plural subject:

si mangia un panino = he/she eats (him/herself) a sandwich
si mangiano un panino = they eat (theirselves) a sandwich

si sedeva sulla poltrona = he/she sat (him/herself) on the armchair
si sedevano sulla poltrona = they sat (themselves) on the armchair

The "short" pronoun si is also used for impersonal forms, corresponding to English oneself:

vedere = to see
vedersi = to see oneself (singular meaning), to see each others (plural meaning)

 

Italian uses reflexive forms much more often than English. There are several verbs which in Italian can be reflexive and in English are not, although both forms (reflexive and non-reflexive) are often correct:

mangiare un panino = to eat a sandwich
mangio un panino = I eat a sandwich
mi mangio un panino = I eat (myself) a sandwich
mangiarsi un panino = to eat (oneself) a sandwich

ascoltare la musica = to listen to the music
sentivi la musica = you listened to the music
ti sentivi la musica = you listened (yourself) to the music
sentirsi la musica = to listen (oneself) to the music

leggere il giornale = to read a newspaper
leggerà il giornale = he/she will read the newspaper
si leggerà il giornale = he/she will read (him/herself) the newspaper
leggersi il giornale = to read (oneself) a newspaper

vedere un film = to see a movie
vediamo un film = we see a movie
ci vediamo un film = we see (ourselves) a movie
vedersi un film = to see (oneself) a movie

sedere sulla poltrona = to sit
sedete sulla poltrona = you sit on the armchair
vi sedete sulla poltrona = you sit (yourselves) on the armchair
sedersi sulla poltrona = to sit (oneself) on the chair

scegliere un vestito = to choose a suit / a dress
scelgono un vestito = they choose a suit / a dress
si scelgono un vestito = they choose (themselves) a suit / a dress
scegliersi = to choose (oneself) a suit / a dress

The sentences above show how many verbs can be used in both forms. In these cases, it's just a free choice whether to use the reflexive form or not, although reflexive usually turns the sentence into a more colloquial expression. So, as a general rule, spoken language uses reflexive much more often than written language.

Some verbs, instead, always need the reflexive form, otherwise the meaning of the verb would change:

togliere = to take away
togliersi = to take off
togliere il cappello (dalla sedia) = to take away the hat (from the chair)
togliersi il cappello = to take off one's hat
toglierai il cappello = you will take away the hat
ti toglierai il cappello = you will take off your hat
toglievamo il cappello = we took away the hat
ci toglievamo il cappello = we took off our hat

Notice that while in English "I take off my hat", "you take off your hat", etc. in Italian it is always "...the hat".

There are many other examples:

spingere = to push, to press
spingersi = to go, to reach (a distant destination), or to push each other (more literal meaning)
spingerò il pulsante = I'll press the button
mi spingerò fino al confine = I'll reach as far as the boundary
ti spingesti troppo lontano = you went too far

credere = to believe
credersi = to think to be
credono a tutto = they believe everything
si credevano bravi = they thought they were clever
ti credi forte = you think you are strong

prendere = to take
prendersi = to have (food, drinks) or to catch (a disease)
prenderò la bicicletta = I'll take the bycicle
mi prenderò una birra = I'll have a beer
si prese un raffreddore = he/she caught a cold

sentire = to feel (sensitivity)
sentirsi = to feel (state of health or mood), or to keep in touch, to hear each other
senti freddo? = do you feel cold?
ti senti meglio? = do you feel better?
ci sentiamo spesso = we often hear each other
ci sentiamo tristi = we feel sad

allontanare = to send (or keep) away (something or somebody)
allontanarsi = to go away (from somebody or something)
il fumo allontana gli insetti = smoke keeps insects away
si allontana per dieci minuti = he/she goes away for ten minutes
mi allontanavo spesso = I often went away
vi allontanerete molto? = will you go very far?