There are two types of personal pronouns:
- Pronomi personali sogetto: subject personal pronouns.
- Pronomi personali complemento (ogetto): complement (object) personal pronouns.
1. I pronomi personali sogetto (Subject personal pronouns).
Personal pronouns indicate:
- The person or people speaking: io/noi (first person).
- The person or people listening: tu/ voi (second person).
- The person or people (or animal or thing) that is being talked about/to: lui/lei/loro/esso/essa/essi/esse (third person).
| io | I |
| tu | You (sin.) |
| lui [esso/(egli)] | He |
| lei [essa/(ella)] | She |
| noi | We |
| voi | You (plur.) |
| loro [essi/esse] | They |
Unlike other languages, in Italian, the personal pronoun with the subject function has rather limited use and is not obligatory because the ending of the verb is sufficient to determine the person (Subject).
- (Noi) partiremo domani per le vacanze.
- (We are leaving tomorrow for vacation).
- Dove vai (tu) quest’anno al mare?
- (Where are you going to the beach this year?)
- (io) ho scritto una letters.
- (I wrote a letter.)
- (loro) hanno finito di lavorare.
- (they have finished working).
1. Io, tu, noi, voi.
First and second-person singular and plural pronouns are used for both masculine and feminine.
2. Lui, egli, esso.
For the third-person singular masculine we have three forms:
- Lui: is the one most used in spoken and written Italian, both formal and informal.
It refers to a person but is also used (especially in spoken language) for animals.
- Egli: refers to a person and is used in written language or formal spoken language.
- Esso: can refer to both an animal and a thing. In spoken Italian, it is rarely used.
3. Lei, ella, essa.
- Lei: In Italian lei is normally used when referring to people (sometimes in speech also to animals).
- Ella: The feminine form ella corresponds to the masculine egli, but it is a form now rarely used even in the written language.
- Essa: The form essa refers to things or animals, but is used more rarely, especially in the written language or in certain regional variants.
4. Loro, essi, esse.
- Loro: refers to people and animals
For people we use (Loro)
For animals and things either the name is repeated or the form (quelli, quelle) is used.
- Essi and Esse: refer to people, animals, and things (In the Italian language they are rarely used).