Subject personal pronouns in Italian serve the same function as their English counterparts by pointing out who carries out the action described by the verb.
First, let us take a look at subject personal pronouns in Italian:
| io | I | 1st person singular |
| tu | you (informal) | 2nd person singular |
| Lei | you (formal) | 2nd person singular |
| lui/lei | he/she | 3rd person singular |
| noi | we | 1st person plural |
| voi | you (informal) | 2nd person plural |
| Loro | you (formal) | 2nd person plural |
| loro | they | 3rd person plural |
Dropping the Subject Pronoun
More often than not, the subject personal pronoun is dropped. This is because the verb endings are sufficient to refer to the subject, as you will learn in Lesson 6 of this level.
Informal “tu” vs. Formal “Lei”
There are two forms of the singular “you” in Italian; the first is the informal “tu,” which we use with familiar people (e.g., child, relative, friend, peer, etc.), and the second is the formal “Lei,” which we use with older people and with people we are not familiar with or to show respect.
Similarly, there are two forms of the plural “you” in Italian; the first is the informal “voi,” which we use with familiar, and the second is the formal “Loro,” which we use with older people and with people we are not familiar with or to show respect.
Notice that we capitalize the formal (or polite) forms “Lei” (you – singular) and “Loro” (you – plural). This is to distinguish them from the non-capitalized “lei” (she) and “loro” (they), respectively.
The Equivalent of “it” in Italian
Notice that we did not include an equivalent to the English subject pronoun “it.” Since the subject pronoun is often dropped, the pronoun “it” is often not used.
In formal speech, the pronouns “esso,” (masculine) and “essa,” (feminine), meaning “it,” can be used. The plural equivalents are: “essi,” (masculine) and “esse,” (feminine), respectively.
Formal Alternatives to “lui” & “lei”
There are two more pronouns that can replace “lui” (he) and “lei” (she). The two pronouns are: “egli” (he) and “ella” (she). These formal pronouns are not common in ordinary conversation.
Next: Present Indicative Tense I
Other lessons in Level I:
