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  7.1.1 Position of the pronouns in relationship to the verb

You have already seen that the objective pronouns in Italian in general stands in front of the verb, in English behind the verb.

I give him the book.
Gli do il libro.

You can distinguish several situations.

case I: The sentence doesn' t have a modal verb: The personal pronoun is before the first conjugated verb.

Examples  
I buy it.  
Lo compro.
I have bought it.  
L'ho comprato.
I haven' t bought it .  
Non lo compro.
I haven' t bought it.  
Non l'ho comprato.
I give him the book.
Gli do il libro.
I don' t give him the book.
Non gli do il libro.
I have given him the book.
Gli ho dato il libro.
I haven' t given him the book.  
Non gli ho dato il libro.

case II: There is a modal verb. In these case the pronoun is in front of the first conjugated verb or is added to the infinitive.

Examples  
I can see him.
Lo posso vedere. / Posso vederlo.
I can give him the book.
Gli posso dare il libro. / Posso dargli il libro.
I can' t give him the book.
Non gli posso dare il libro. / Non posso dargli il libro.

This basic rules applies as well if there are several pronouns (I give it to him => Glielo do).

If you speak French, please note that it is NOT as in French. The pronouns never stands in front of the infinitive.





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