Italian grammar · Beginner (A1)
Subject pronouns: io, tu, lui, lei, Lei…
The Italian words for I, you, he, she, we and they, when to leave them out, and when to say tu or Lei.
The pronouns
A subject pronoun is the word for the person doing the action, like “I” or “she”. Italian has two words for “you” when you talk to one person: informal and polite . For more than one person, use .
There is no everyday word for “it” as a subject. Just use the verb: (It's good).
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| I | |
| you (one person, informal) | |
| he | |
| she | |
| you (one person, polite) | |
| we | |
| you (more than one person) | |
| they |
You can usually leave them out
The verb ending already shows who is doing the action, so Italians normally drop the pronoun: (I'm English), (Do you speak Italian?).
Use the pronoun when you want to stress the person or contrast two people, and when the verb alone isn't clear.
- Abito a Milano.I live in Milan.
- Io sono di Roma, lui è di Napoli.I'm from Rome, he's from Naples.
- Pago io.I'll pay. (It's on me.)
- Siete italiani?Are you Italian? (to several people)
Tu or Lei?
Use with friends, family, children, and people of your own age in relaxed situations. Use with strangers, staff, older people and in professional situations. If you are unsure, start with . The other person may then suggest (Let's use ).
takes the same verb form as “he” and “she”: (How are you?, polite). In writing it is often spelt with a capital L to show it means “you”.
| Informal (tu) | Polite (Lei) | English |
|---|---|---|
| How are you? | ||
| Where are you from? | ||
| What's your name? | ||
| Excuse me. / Sorry. |