Direct object pronouns

First of all: what is a direct object? Anything that can answer the questions What? and Who? is a direct object, as in Compro i peperoni and Oggi vedo mia sorella, where peperoni and mia sorella are direct objects of the verbs comprare and vedere.  Consider the following example:

In the example above, li stands for i peperoni. We use li to avoid repeating the word peperoni.  Li is a pronoun, that is, it stands in the place of a noun, in this case, a direct object. Here is the complete list of direct pronouns:

Pronouns always go before the conjugated verb, i.e.: la compro, vi vedo, etc.  However, when there is a verb + an infinitive, they can go either before the conjugated verb or be attached to the end of the infinitive after you have dropped the last letter of the infinitive, as in assaggiare > assaggiar. Consider the two possible answers to the following question:

Hai già assaggiato la frittata?

• No, ma la voglio assaggiare subito.
• No, ma voglio assaggiarla subito.

You have learned that when you use avere in the passato prossimo, as in ho visto un bel film or abbiamo finito di fare la spesa, visto and finito do not change, no matter who is performing the action.  There is one exception to this rule: when the direct object pronouns lo, la, li, le and ne precede the passato prossimo, the past participle (visto and finito in our examples) changes to agree with the direct object pronoun. Study all the following cases:

With the direct object pronouns mi, ti, ci and vi, you do not have to do this agreement, but you may.