Italian conjugation explanation

Past participle agreement with object pronouns

<p>In Italian, when forming the

<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/123/" target="_blank">Passato Prossimo</a>

<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/ita/avere/" title="Click to see conjugations for avere" target="_blank">avere</a>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_title">Mandatory Agreement: Third Person</div>

<p>The past participle <strong>must agree</strong> in gender and number with the direct object when the verb is preceded by the third-person pronouns <span style="font-style: italic">lo, la, l', li,</span> or <span style="font-style: italic">le</span>.</p>

<ul>

<li>

<div><strong style="font-style: italic">lo / l'</strong> (masculine singular) &#8594; participle ends in <strong>-o</strong></div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Dov'è il libro? <span class="brown_emphasis">L'</span>ho <span class="green_emphasis">comprato</span> ieri. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Where is the book? I bought it yesterday.</span>)</div>

</li>

<li>

<div><strong style="font-style: italic">la / l'</strong> (feminine singular) &#8594; participle ends in <strong>-a</strong></div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Ho visto Maria e <span class="brown_emphasis">l'</span>ho <span class="green_emphasis">salutata</span>. (<span style="font-style: italic;">I saw Maria and I greeted her.</span>)</div>

</li>

<li>

<div><strong style="font-style: italic">li</strong> (masculine plural) &#8594; participle ends in <strong>-i</strong></div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">I ragazzi? Non <span class="brown_emphasis">li</span> abbiamo <span class="green_emphasis">invitati</span>. (<span style="font-style: italic;">The boys? We didn't invite them.</span>)</div>

</li>

<li>

<div><strong style="font-style: italic">le</strong> (feminine plural) &#8594; participle ends in <strong>-e</strong></div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Quelle scarpe? <span class="brown_emphasis">Le</span> avevo <span class="green_emphasis">cercate</span> ovunque. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Those shoes? I had looked for them everywhere.</span>)</div>

</li>

</ul>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_title">Be Careful: Direct vs. Indirect Object</div>

<p>The agreement rule <strong>only applies to direct objects</strong>. This is particularly tricky with the pronoun <span style="font-style: italic">le</span>, which can be a plural direct object ("them") or a singular indirect object ("to her").</p>

<p><strong>No agreement</strong> happens when the pronoun is an indirect object (<span style="font-style: italic">complemento di termine</span>):</p>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence"><span class="brown_emphasis">Le</span> ho <span class="green_emphasis">chiamate</span> ieri. (<span style="font-style: italic;">I called them [fem. pl.] yesterday.</span>)</div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence_note">(Agreement: <span style="font-style: italic">chiamare</span> takes a direct object, so <strong style="font-style: italic">le</strong> is "them".)</div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence"><span class="brown_emphasis">Le</span> ho <span class="green_emphasis">detto</span> la verità. (<span style="font-style: italic;">I told [to] her the truth.</span>)</div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence_note">(No agreement: <span style="font-style: italic">dire</span> takes an indirect object, so <strong style="font-style: italic">le</strong> is "to her".)</div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_title">Optional Agreement: First and Second Person</div>

<p>When the verb is preceded by first-person (<span style="font-style: italic">mi, ci</span>) or second-person (<span style="font-style: italic">ti, vi</span>) direct object pronouns, <strong>agreement is optional</strong>.</p>

<p>While grammatically correct to agree, modern Italian tends not to use agreement in these cases:</p>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Marco <span class="brown_emphasis">ci</span> ha <span class="green_emphasis">accompagnato</span> a casa. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Marco accompanied us home.</span>)</div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence_note">(Standard usage)</div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Marco <span class="brown_emphasis">ci</span> ha <span class="green_emphasis">accompagnati</span> a casa. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Marco accompanied us home.</span>)</div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence_note">(Optional agreement usage)</div>

<p>For more on past participle agreement with the particle <span style="font-style: italic">ne</span>, see

<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/conjugationExplanation/italian_ne_agreement/" target="_blank">Past participle agreement with 'ne'</a>