What is the difference between i and gli in italian

Which one is used depends on the first sound of the word after it: if it's a vowel, an s followed by a consonant, or a z, gli is used.

For words starting with other consonans, i is used. Use "i" for most masculine verbs that end with "i", other than the exceptions listed above.

Other examples:. Where it gets tricky is on the feminine plural nouns. Because some of those end in "i" and you might think they are masculine. Play le idee. Play il cavallo. Play i cavalli.

Play gli angeli. Play lo zaino. Play lo studente. Play gli zaini. Play gli studenti. You might also be interested in Italian articles — pronunciation, examples, and some useful testing tools Italian prepositions — tables, examples and audio A general introduction to Italian grammar rules Children's stories in Italian.

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Is there any implicit or idiomatic difference between "gli" and "lo" used as a clitic pronoun? Ask Question. Asked 4 years, 9 months ago. Active 4 years, 9 months ago. Viewed times. Improve this question. Marco Marco 3 3 silver badges 14 14 bronze badges. There is a big difference: at the third person singular lo is used for the direct object and gli is used for the indirect object complemento di termine in Italian.

As in, the same way that mi becomes me when followed by another clitic -- lo becomes gli? No, as in indirect object vs direct object. They are different grammatical categories and not intechangeable at all. That makes a lot more sense all the other questions I got wrong in a similar vein now are clearer. Thank you. Can you post that as an answer so I can accept it?

Are you or is your software which one, by the way? While it's true that lo can often be truncated for instance l'avevo detto sounds better than lo avevo detto , my ear — for what's worth — wouldn't do so in such a sentence as this one.

Show 1 more comment. Active Oldest Votes. Here is the list of the clitic forms for the direct object and the indirect object respectively. Improve this answer.