Indirect Object Placement

Once you know the indirect-object clitic series — mi, ti, gli, le, ci, vi (plus colloquial gli for "to them") — the next question is where do they go in the sentence? The rules are essentially the same as for direct-object clitics, with one critical exception: loro, the formal post-verbal "to them," is the only piece of the system that does not behave as a clitic at all. This page walks through every position rule and shows where the loro asymmetry surfaces.

Rule 1: Before a conjugated verb

This is the default position and the one you will use most often. The clitic sits immediately before the conjugated verb, with no other words between them.

In compound tenses, the clitic still goes before the auxiliary (the conjugated verb), not before the participle. Gli ho detto — never Ho gli detto, never Ho detto gli.

In sentences with a negation, the order is non + clitic + verb. The negation comes before the clitic, not between clitic and verb.

Rule 2: Attached to an infinitive

When the verb is an infinitive, the clitic drops the final -e of the infinitive and attaches to it as a single word.

• dare
  • gli → dargli
• scrivere
  • le → scriverle
• parlare
  • vi → parlarvi
• dire
  • mi → dirmi

Italian does not pronounce dare-gli as two syllables; it merges them into dargli /ˈdar.ʎʎi/. Treat the result as one word — stress falls on the original infinitive's stressed syllable.

Rule 3: Attached to a gerundio

The same merging happens with the gerundio (the -ando / -endo form). The clitic attaches to the end of the gerundio as a single word.

The gerundio is less frequent in everyday Italian than the English -ing form. With the stare + gerundio progressive, the clitic typically sits before stare rather than on the gerundio: Gli sto scrivendo — though Sto scrivendogli is also acceptable and slightly more formal.

Rule 4: Attached to affirmative imperatives (tu, noi, voi)

In affirmative imperatives addressed to tu, noi, or voi, the clitic attaches to the end of the imperative form. This is one of the places where Italian word order differs sharply from English.

• Da' + mi → Dammi! ("Give me!")
• Date + gli → Dategli! ("Give him!" — voi)
• Diamo + le → Diamole! ("Let's give her!" — noi)

In negative imperatives the order can be either way:

• Non darmi quel libro! (clitic attached to the infinitive form dare)
• Non mi dare quel libro! (clitic before the infinitive)

Both are correct. The first sounds slightly more formal; the second is more conversational.

Rule 5: Before Lei (formal) imperatives

The polite imperative addressed to Lei behaves differently from the tu/noi/voi forms: the clitic sits before the verb, not attached to it. This is because the formal Lei imperative is morphologically a subjunctive, and clitics precede subjunctives.

The split — pre-verbal for Lei, post-verbal for tu/noi/voi — is a frequent learner error. The trick: tu/noi/voi forms are true imperatives (clitic attaches); Lei forms are subjunctives in disguise (clitic precedes).

Rule 6: With modal + infinitive — the clitic can climb

When a modal verb (volere, potere, dovere, sapere) is followed by an infinitive, the indirect-object clitic has two acceptable positions: before the modal, or attached to the infinitive. Both are equally correct; the choice is purely stylistic.

In speech, both forms are about equally common. In formal writing, the climbing form is slightly more frequent. Do not split the clitic from either anchor — Voglio le scrivere is wrong; if you climb, the clitic must sit on the modal.

Rule 7 (CRITICAL): Loro is always post-verbal

This is the single most important asymmetry in the entire indirect-object system. The form loro ("to them," formal) is not a clitic at all. It behaves like a free word — closer to a stressed prepositional phrase — and its rules are different from everything else above.

• Loro never sits before the conjugated verb. Loro ho detto is impossible.
• Loro never attaches to an infinitive. Dirloro does not exist.
• Loro never attaches to a gerundio. Dicendoloro does not exist.
• Loro never attaches to an imperative. Dilloro does not exist.
• Loro does not participate in combined clitics. No lorelo, no lorene.

What loro does is sit after the verb as a free word. In compound tenses it sits after the participle as well — pushed even further to the right.

These unique rules are themselves the clearest reason gli has spread to cover "to them" in everyday usage: speakers regularise toward the dominant clitic pattern. If you find yourself wanting to say dirloro, that's your brain telling you to switch to gli: dirgli is the form that exists.

Rule 8: Truncated imperatives — the doubling rule (and the gli exception)

There are five short, irregular imperative forms in Italian that end in an apostrophe: da' (give!, from dare), fa' (do/make!, from fare), va' (go!, from andare), sta' (stay!, from stare), and di' (say!, from dire). When you attach a clitic to one of these, the initial consonant of the clitic doubles.

• da'
  • mi → dammi (give me!)
• fa'
  • mi → fammi (do me a / make me!)
• di'
  • mi → dimmi (tell me!)
• va'
  • ti (reflexive) → vattene (go away! — combined clitic)
• sta'
  • ti (reflexive) → stattene (stay where you are!)

The clitic forms used with these short imperatives that do double include: mi → mmi, ti → tti, lo → llo, la → lla, li → lli, le → lle, ci → cci, vi → vvi, ne → nne.

The notable exception is gli, which does not double. Da' + gli → dagli, not daggli. The reason is purely orthographic: the digraph gl is already a single sound /ʎ/, and writing gg before it would suggest a different, unpronounceable cluster.

Direct vs indirect placement: side by side

The placement rules above are identical for direct and indirect clitics with one exception: loro. Here is the comparison table.

The pattern is consistent: direct and indirect clitics behave identically. Only loro stands apart, behaving like a free word that follows the verb in every position.

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

1. Indirect clitics (mi, ti, gli, le, ci, vi, gli) follow the same placement rules as direct clitics. Pre-verbal in finite clauses, attached to infinitives, gerunds, and tu/noi/voi imperatives, pre-verbal in formal Lei imperatives.

2. With modals, the clitic can climb to the modal or attach to the infinitive. Both are correct: Le voglio scrivere = Voglio scriverle.

3. Loro is the one exception: it is never a clitic. It always sits after the verb (and after the participle in compound tenses), and it never attaches to anything. This asymmetry is the structural reason gli = a loro has taken over in modern usage — see Gli vs Loro.

4. The truncated imperatives da', fa', va', sta', di' double the initial consonant of the clitic — dammi, fammi, dimmi — except for gli, which keeps single g: dagli, fagli, digli.

5. The clitic stays adjacent to the verb. Don't insert words between them, don't drop the clitic, don't double it with both a pre-verbal clitic and a post-verbal loro for the same referent.

For combined clitics (when an indirect and a direct clitic appear in the same sentence), see Combined Clitics: Overview. For the parallel placement of direct-object clitics, see Direct Object Placement.