A2 · The pronouns
Stressed pronouns: con me, per te, a lui
After a preposition and for emphasis, the full form.
At a glance
- Remember
- After a preposition, the full form: con me, per te, da lui.
- Form
- con tewith you
- Signal words
- con te
- per lui
- da me
- a me
- senza di
- tranne
- Trap
- Wrong:Vieni con mi al cinema?Right:Vieni con me al cinema?
Your turn
6 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
The forms and what they mean
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Italian.
| with you | con te |
| for him | per lui |
| without her | senza di lei |
| at my place | da me |
| to you, not to him | a te, non a lui |
| like you | come te |
| except me | tranne me |
| he only thinks of himself | pensa solo a sé |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
After a preposition the full form is always used.
Vengo con te alla stazione.I will come to the station with you.
For emphasis it stands after the verb and the short pronoun drops.
Cerco te, non lui.I am looking for you, not him.
a plus the full form stresses the indirect object.
A me piace il mare, a lei la montagna.I like the sea, she likes the mountains.
The full form also follows come and tranne.
Sono tutti stanchi tranne me.Everybody is tired except me.
Example sentences
Questo regalo è per te.This present is for you.
Stasera venite da noi?Are you coming to our place tonight?
Non posso partire senza di te.I cannot leave without you.
Hanno invitato me, non mia sorella.They invited me, not my sister.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English has one word, « me », for both jobs — he sees me, come with me — and whoever has just learnt that mi means me carries it straight behind a preposition: con mi, per ti. After a preposition Italian always takes the full set: con me, per te, per lui. And the subject form never appears there either — between you and me is tra te e me, never tra te e io.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Beside the short pronouns in front of the verb (mi, ti, lo, gli) Italian has a second, full set: me, te, lui, lei, noi, voi, loro, plus sé for oneself. These stand after the verb or after a preposition, and they carry the stress.
After any preposition only the full form will do: con te, per lui, da me, senza di noi, secondo lei. There is no con ti and no per gli. English does the same thing with one set — with me, for him — which is why the Italian full set feels natural once you stop reaching for the short one. Da me also means at my place: Vieni da me?
Without a preposition it is used where English simply raises its voice: Cerco te, non lui — I am looking for YOU, not him. English does this with stress alone; Italian moves the pronoun behind the verb in its full form and drops the short one. The same after come and tranne: è alta come te, tutti tranne me.
With the indirect object it joins a: Gli scrivo and Scrivo a lui say the same, the second with emphasis — to him, nobody else. Hence A me piace, a te no. A me mi piace is heard in conversation; in writing the doubling counts as a mistake.
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