Italian conjugation explanation

Past participle agreement with object pronouns

<p>Although the past participle does not agree with the subject when the perfect tense is made with <span style="font-style: italic">avere</span>, there is one exception. There should be <strong>agreement when the third-person singular (<span style="font-style: italic">la</span>, <span style="font-style: italic">lo</span> or <span style="font-style: italic">l'</span>) or plural (<span style="font-style: italic">li</span> or <span style="font-style: italic">le</span>) direct object pronouns precede the verb</strong>. For example: </p>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Non <span class="brown_emphasis">le</span> <span class="green_emphasis">ho viste</span> recentemente. (<span style="font-style: italic;">I haven't seen them recently.</span>)</div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Non <span class="brown_emphasis">li</span> <span class="green_emphasis">abbiamo uccisi</span>. (<span style="font-style: italic;">We didn't wait for them.</span>)</div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Quand'è stata la prima volta che <span class="brown_emphasis">l'</span><span class="green_emphasis">avete incontrata</span>? (<span style="font-style: italic;">When was it that you first met her?</span>)</div>

<p>Pay attention when <span style="font-style: italic">le</span> precedes the verb because it isn't always an object. It can be an <strong>indirect object pronoun</strong> (<span style="font-style: italic;">complemento di termine</span>) as well:</p>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Le <span class="green_emphasis">ho detto</span> <span class="brown_emphasis">tutto</span>. (<span style="font-style: italic;">I told her everything.</span>)</div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence_note">(The object is 'tutto' here, so there is no agreement.)</div>

<p>When the verb is preceded by a first-person (<span style="font-style: italic">mi</span> or <span style="font-style: italic">ci</span>) or a second-person (<span style="font-style: italic">ti</span> or <span style="font-style: italic">vi</span>) direct object pronoun, <strong>the agreement is optional</strong> (although modern Italian <strong>tends not to use agreement</strong> in these cases):</p>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Mio figlio <span class="brown_emphasis">ci</span> <span class="green_emphasis">ha visto/visti/viste</span> dalla finestra. (<span style="font-style: italic;">My son saw us from the window.</span>)</div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence_note">(<strong>visto</strong> if no agreement is used; otherwise, <strong>viste</strong> if the pronoun "ci" refers to an all-female group and <strong>visti</strong> if there is at least one male in the group)</div>