Italian Double Object Pronouns Exercises

Italian double object pronouns (pronomi combinati) combine an indirect object pronoun with a direct object pronoun, as in Me lo dai? (Will you give it to me?). They look intimidating, but they follow a small set of rules. This page recaps those rules, then gives you four exercises with an answer key. It assumes you already know the single direct and indirect pronouns.

Quick recap of the rules

• Order: the indirect pronoun (to whom) comes first, then the direct pronoun (what): Mi dai il libro? Sì, te lo do. (Will you give me the book? Yes, I’ll give it to you.)
• The first pronoun changes its vowel: mi, ti, ci, vi, si become me, te, ce, ve, se before lo, la, li, le, ne.
• Gli and le become glie- and join the next pronoun in one word: gli (to him) and le (to her) both become glie-, so glielo, gliela, glieli, gliele, gliene. In everyday Italian glielo is also used for “to them”.
• Placement: the pronouns go before a conjugated verb, but attach to the end of an infinitive (dropping its final -e), a gerund, or an informal imperative.

The combination table

Examples:

• Mi presti la penna? Sì, te la presto. (Can you lend me the pen? Yes, I’ll lend it to you.)
• Hai dato i fiori a Maria? Sì, glieli ho dati. (Did you give the flowers to Maria? Yes, I gave them to her.)
• Quanti libri ci dai? Ve ne do tre. (How many books are you giving us? I’m giving you three of them.)

Position: before the verb, or attached

With a conjugated verb, the combined pronoun goes before it: Te lo dico. (I’m telling it to you.)

With an infinitive, it can be attached: Voglio dartelo. or placed before the main verb: Te lo voglio dare. (I want to give it to you.) Both are correct. When the infinitive is dare and the pronoun is glielo, you get darglielo (to give it to him / her).

With an informal imperative, it attaches: Dammelo! (Give it to me!), Dimmelo! (Tell it to me!), Portacelo! (Bring it to us!). The formal imperative puts the pronouns before the verb: Me lo dia. (Give it to me, formal.)

Passato prossimo and agreement

In the passato prossimo, the pronouns go before the auxiliary verb: Me l’ha data. (He / she gave it to me.) The past participle agrees in gender and number with the direct pronoun (lo, la, li, le):

• Mi hai dato il libro? Sì, te l’ho dato. (masculine singular)
• Mi hai dato la chiave? Sì, te l’ho data. (feminine singular)
• Mi hai dato i biglietti? Sì, te li ho dati. (masculine plural)
• Mi hai dato le carte? Sì, te le ho date. (feminine plural)

Before a vowel, lo and la become l’ (me l’ha detto, gliel’ho detto). Li and le do not elide in the same way, so they are written as te li ho dati, te le ho date. Note that ne combined with a past participle can also require agreement with the quantity mentioned, which is a more advanced point.

Exercise 1: fill the gap with the combined pronoun

Complete each answer with the right combination: me lo / me la / te lo / te la / glielo / gliela / ce lo / ve lo, etc.

1. Mi presti la penna? Sì, ___ presto. (Yes, I’ll lend it to you.)
2. Ci racconti la storia? Sì, ___ racconto. (Yes, I’ll tell it to you [plural].)
3. Scrivi la lettera a tua madre? Sì, ___ scrivo oggi. (Yes, I’m writing it to her today.)
4. Mi porti il caffè? Sì, ___ porto subito. (Yes, I’ll bring it to you right away.)
5. Mandi la mail ai clienti? Sì, ___ mando domani. (Yes, I’ll send it to them tomorrow.)
6. Ci spiegate la regola? Sì, ___ spieghiamo. (Yes, we’ll explain it to you [plural].)
7. Dai il regalo a Paolo? Sì, ___ do stasera. (Yes, I’m giving it to him tonight.)
8. Mi compri le scarpe? Sì, ___ compro. (Yes, I’ll buy them for you.)

Exercise 2: replace the underlined words

Rewrite each sentence replacing the nouns with pronouns. The indirect object is shown in brackets, and the direct object is the item in italics.

1. Do il libro (a te). → ___
2. Mando la cartolina (a lei). → ___
3. Porto i fiori (a voi). → ___
4. Racconto le storie (a loro). → ___
5. Compra il biglietto (per noi). → ___
6. Presto i soldi (a mio fratello). → ___
7. Do due mele (a te): use ne. → ___

Exercise 3: infinitives and imperatives

Rewrite each sentence using a combined pronoun attached to the infinitive or imperative.

1. Posso dare il libro a te? → Posso ___?
2. Voglio dire la verità a lui. → Voglio ___.
3. Devo mandare le foto a voi. → Devo ___.
4. Dammi la chiave! → ___!
5. Dimmi il tuo nome! → ___!
6. Portaci i documenti! → ___!
7. Manda la mail a lei! → ___!

Exercise 4: passato prossimo

Answer using the passato prossimo and a combined pronoun. Remember the agreement.

1. Hai dato il libro a Marco? Sì, ___.
2. Hai detto la verità a tuo padre? No, non ___.
3. Ti hanno spiegato la regola? Sì, ___.
4. Mi hai comprato i biglietti? Sì, ___.
5. Ci avete mandato le foto? Sì, ___.
6. Hai restituito le chiavi a Giulia? Sì, ___.
7. Si è messo il cappotto? Sì, ___.

Answer key

Exercise 1: 1. te la, 2. ve la, 3. gliela, 4. te lo, 5. glielo, 6. ve la, 7. glielo, 8. te le.

Notes: in item 2 the question uses “ci” (to us), so the answer uses ve (to you plural). In item 6 the question is from “you plural” to “us”, so the answer from “we” to “you plural” is ve la.

Exercise 2:

1. Te lo do.
2. Gliela mando.
3. Ve li porto.
4. Gliele racconto. (Gliele also covers “to them” in everyday Italian. Racconto loro le storie is the more formal version with loro after the verb.)
5. Ce lo compra.
6. Glieli presto.
7. Te ne do due.

Exercise 3:

1. Posso dartelo? (or Te lo posso dare?)
2. Voglio dirglielo. (or Glielo voglio dire.)
3. Devo mandarvele. (or Ve le devo mandare.)
4. Dammela!
5. Dimmelo!
6. Portaceli!
7. Mandagliela!

Exercise 4:

1. Sì, glielo ho dato. (also written gliel’ho dato)
2. No, non gliel’ho detta. (verità is feminine, so detta)
3. Sì, me l’hanno spiegata.
4. Sì, te li ho comprati.
5. Sì, ve le abbiamo mandate.
6. Sì, gliele ho restituite.
7. Sì, se l’è messo.

Common mistakes

• Reversing the order. The indirect pronoun always comes first: me lo, not lo mi.
• Writing gli lo. It must be glielo, in one word.
• Using mi lo or ti la. Before lo, la, li, le, ne, use me, te.
• Forgetting participle agreement. Gliel’ho data (feminine direct object) must end in -a, not -o.
• Forgetting the lost -e of the infinitive. Dare + te + lo becomes darlo with one pronoun but dartelo with two.
• Using the wrong pronoun for “to her”. Both gli (to him) and le (to her) become glie- in the combined forms, so the combined pronoun does not show gender.

How to keep practicing

Try to build a bank of ten of your own sentences with combined pronouns, drawn from daily life (Me lo dici domani?, Te la mando stasera), and rehearse them aloud. The Italian grammar activities page includes a pronoun-replacement drill and an error log that suit this topic. If you are still building a foundation, start with the basic Italian phrases and come back when single pronouns feel comfortable.