Italian Lesson n.4 - Italian personal subject pronouns & the verb "to be"

[ohwelI]

How do we know when to use lui/lei/lui instead of egli/ella/esso?? (in cases other than formal speaking). Also which one should I use essi, esse or loro? In other words, which form of he/she/it and they is the most commonly used in Italy? I'm confused!

[xstaticprocess2x]

the videos really help.thanks a lot.can anyone explain the usage of "stanno" and "sta"?"Loro stanno molto bene" is written in my book but i wonder why cant we say "Loro sono molto bene"??

[bunbacheso]

@xstaticprocess2x I think "essere" is only used for permanent things, such as "to be Italian" or "to be a woman". If it's temporary, like "to be fine/well (right now)", use the verb "stare".

[ric94jim]

How do you say: " I speak a little italian" in italian?

[zanzazanzara]

@ric94jim Parlo un po' l'italiano

[Vasyukov]

is "hai saltato" as equally acceptable as "saltavi"?

[badvortex]

@Vasyukov yes... maybe 'hai saltato' o 'saltasti' is more correct if u are talking about a past action. but remember we can use 'saltavi' (imperfetto) also to say an action in the past which doesn't repeat itself anymore (corresponding to 'I used to' in English). ;)

[icicle8]

WEH! narigarigat moh!

[classico6788]

when will I use Essi or Esse ??

[DrSAM69]

@classico6788 Essi and Esse like Egli/Esso and Ella/Essa are very old fashioned ways to say They (f&m) and He or She.

The only place where you will find them is books or if someone is reciting or wants to use a poetic tone.

Also, the guy forgot something.

When speaking formally both Voi and Lei can be used, Lei even if fem. (because it derives from sua grazia/your grace, sua altezza/your highness and other f. adj) is used for both male and female.

When speaking formally to many always use Voi.

[badvortex]

@classico6788 just use 'Loro'... that's fine ;)

[rubisuperstar16]

I'm having trouble with "Egli". It seems like you read "Eí " or something similar. It's hard to understand. Could somebody help me with this pls?

[beatle96]

@rubisuperstar16

gli is pronounced more like yee.

[rubisuperstar16]

@beatle96 Thanks. ^^

[DrSAM69]

@rubisuperstar16 He's from the south and thats why he pronounces GLI like YYI (or eng YEE).

The true pronounciation is something like LYI (or eng LYEE) (flatten tip of the tongue on the front palate just before the teeth and while making the L sound pronounce YI right away by letting the tongue fall forward).

Both pronounciations are just as good wherever you go so just choose the one you prefer.

[WeWillNotRockYou1]

I can read italian ( little bits )

But i cant speak it?

Parlo poco Italiano.

Is that ok? Or rubbish?

[Tsukiko330]

Gyah egli is quite difficult to pronounce! I have been studying "to be" structures all night and this was helpful. :-)

[chocolatelywinx]

Grazie for this! I have an oral test tomorrow on 'to-be' and this helped with my Pronunciation!

[arabbannerz]

good job :)

it's useful :)

[5Up3rdev1c3]

@SemperAtheos Inserting the pronoun you made a repetition because the verb is sufficient to pass the whole information (so the pronoun it's implicit)

[pavelnedvedq8]

useful

thank you

and more

[zazzolina]

sei siciliano?

[principesilenzioso]

Perché fra i pronomi personali soggetto di terza persona singolare hai scritto "lui" due volte? Così sembra che si possa dire sia lui che lei per la donna. Inoltre dovresti specificare che egli si usa solo allo scritto e che all'orale usiamo lui invece che egli o esso e lei invece che ella o essa. Allo stesso modo per essi, all'orale sempre "loro". E ancora ci sarebbe da specificare la differenza fra passato remoto, passato prossimo e imperfetto (cavolo quanto siamo complicati noi italiani!).

[SemperAtheos]

Is it acceptable to say, for instance, 'siete' instead of 'voi siete' as it is in Latin? Or must you use the pronoun along with the verb?

[daydreamer191]

oh and also is there a specific rule for writing the ending of the verb in saltare. like in spanish depending on the gender you add an a or o etc. the "erebbe" & "eranno" will always be like that for they and he she, of course changing depending on the gender? (hope you understand what im trying to say :S i speak awful)

[RedMalice25]

@daydreamer191 well you do have point. because i'm roughly familiar with spainish. but never was too crazy in exspanding my knowdlge in that area. now hopefully you're talking about mexican spainish si? cause if so, there's a huge shareing junction with both languges. i'm very fluent yet. but you'd be surprised.

[RedMalice25]

@daydreamer191 *not*

[daydreamer191]

oh and also is there a specific rule for writing the ending of the verb in saltare. like in spanish depending on the gender you add an a or o etc. the "erebbe" & "eranno" will always be like that for they and he she, of course changing depending on the gender? (hope you understand what im trying to say :S i speak awful)

[daydreamer191]

WTF?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahaha xD duuude i suck at pronouns, tense, etc.. AHH!! i've being doing good so far, but once i got into the tricky part, i got stuc k! ithe same happened with german, i got SO confused :S :'( this whole thing of he, she, you, etc, oh my i get so lost :( but im really interested in learning italian! :D

[daydreamer191]

@daydreamer191 OH and also how's that thing of "voi" (plural) that has gotten me SO confused also, do you mean voi as USTED in spanish? or is it different? how can there be plural to one person, get it? hahaha OMG & when do we use essi, esse & loro, they are all the same right? and egli, ella, esso, lui, lei?? ahhhh!!! haha this is so confusing!! :P

[bizzabel]

in english you would say:

you jump, they jump, he/she jumps

love these videos! thanks so much!!!!!

[Person0805]

It's ok, relax and don't worry about every little thing when learning a language. Remember, YOU'RE LEARNING A LANGUAGE. This isn't something where you learn everything in a week. This could take months and even years if you want to go at that pace, to master a language. In the beginning, you have no choice but to not think too much about some things. For only this lesson, you should think about the present of "essere". Don' worry about the past, conditional, or future... I learned the hard way.

[SemperAtheos]

Damn, I thought Italian verb conjugation would be easier than Latin verb conjugation. I guess I was wrong. >.>

[Killerclownmeat]

GAH any tips on Lui and Lei ?? very hard

[MrUrgando]

Ok let's tell some tips about the "Lui-Lei" stuff. 'Egli' and 'Lui' are synonims (both meaning 'He') so as 'Ella' and 'Lei' are synonims as well (meaning 'She'). The fact is that Egli and Ella versions are not used anymore. In the oral language you just say 'Lui' and 'Lei'. Egli and Ella can be seen just in the written language, though if you have any doubt you can write on my mailbox and I will answer to it very gladly. :)

[Killerclownmeat]

ahhh thank you very much!

[paraxit90]

hello, i'm italian and i just wanted to clear your doubts. So egli \ lui \ esso is masculine whereas ella\ lei\ essa is the female pronoune. Lei is also used as second person singular but only in formal language (for example if i'm talking to the teacher, the doctor, an adult and so on...).

For what concerns the verbs you jumped is the past, egli salterebbe is the conditional and essi salteranno is the future. If you have any other questions or doubts leave a comment or send me a message. bye

[sgmblvo]

hey i am italian to and i agree with you

[chikibertobecerra92]

whats the song in the end??

[jessicasalgad0]

lui and lei are confusing! =S

[DeclyDecly]

" lei " is female

" lui " is male

but " lei " , it's also the courtesy form.

( like " Sie " in German or " Vous " in French )

[RedMalice25]

@jessicasalgad0 well this is what i know. they both have about 5-6 different meanings. other langues tend to have this happen in. latin. japanse. etc. okay, now before i sound a typical weeabo. if you look and listen closely. you can tell when its used to say something other then what you already know.

[lou131]

When you say saltavi, it is in the past? and salterebbe and salteranno are in the future? But salto is in the present right?

[Rocket277]

Saltavi = You jumped (past)

Salterebbe = He/She/It would jump (conditional, but it's still present)

Salteranno = They will jump (future)

[jonjon2222]

LEI is both You and He/she ???

[PinoFromPolistena]

LEI is "she" when it functions as a subject; LEI means "her" when it functions as an indirect and direct object; besides, LEI means "you" (subject, direct and indirect object, masculine and feminine) in the formal language and in polite form of address.

[amarcos718]

thank you for these lessons.

i'm going to be visiting Italy for a month and am trying to learn as much as i can..

luckly i am fluent in spanish so it helps a bit.

thanks again!

[willanddal]

grazieee! <3

[lafoliedamour]

This is very helpful - thank you!

[lou131]

also the lui and the lei conrfuse me.

[lou131]

great... but i have a hard time knowing if egli/ella/esso is for he or she or it.

[newcookbook54]

I assume that Egli/ella/esso is feminine and lui/lei are masculine. It's similar to elle and le in French (both languages have roots in Latin and there are some similarities between them).

[lillylolalikes91]

you are fantastic rocket277 you've helped me pronounce so much better i think at this rate i'll pass my italiano oral exam!

kudos to you!

xx

[jieunnnnnn]

omgomg u're voice is AWesomeXD haahah just kidding , nevermind anyway thanxxx btw, Italian language is so beautiful :P

Ellaaaaa ~ Noiiii XD

[weetie924]

ella.. ella.. ella.. = she

that's the only thing i remember :p

lol

[MetronAnthropos]

Merci bien de créer ces vidéos !

Ce sont utiles et très informatifs.