Subject pronouns identify who performs the action of a verb. In Italian they correspond to English I, you, he, she, we, and they — but the parallels stop there, because Italian uses subject pronouns very differently from English. The single most important fact: Italian usually omits the subject pronoun. The verb ending alone tells you who the subject is. Including a subject pronoun is the marked, expressive choice — not the default.
Once you internalise this, your Italian will sound dramatically more native immediately. English speakers tend to over-include subject pronouns by reflex; Italians don't, and the resulting cadence is one of the clearest dividing lines between learner Italian and natural speech.
The full inventory
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | io (I) | noi (we) |
| 2nd informal | tu (you) | voi (you all) |
| 2nd formal | Lei (you, sg.) | Loro (you all, very formal/archaic) / voi |
| 3rd masculine | lui (egli, archaic) | loro (essi, archaic) |
| 3rd feminine | lei (ella, archaic) | loro (esse, archaic) |
Two things to notice immediately:
- The everyday spoken pronouns are the ones in the left column without parentheses. Io, tu, Lei, lui, lei, noi, voi, loro are what you'll hear in conversation. The bracketed forms (egli, ella, essi, esse) are literary survivors — recognise them, but never use them in speech.
- There is no Italian word for "it" as a subject. Inanimate things either have no subject pronoun at all (the verb ending suffices) or, when emphasis is needed, are referred to by lui or lei depending on grammatical gender.
Io vado al mercato, e tu vieni con me.
I'm going to the market, and you're coming with me. (subject pronouns included for contrast)
Lei è italiana, ma vive a Berlino da dieci anni.
She's Italian, but she's been living in Berlin for ten years.
Italian is "pro-drop" — and what that means
Every Italian verb ending carries information about the subject. The pronoun and the verb ending agree in person and number, but the ending alone is enough.
Parlo italiano.
I speak Italian. ('Io' is omitted — the ending '-o' already says 'I').
Mangiamo a casa stasera.
We're eating at home tonight. ('Noi' is omitted — the ending '-iamo' says 'we'.)
Lavorano in centro.
They work downtown. ('Loro' is omitted — the ending '-ano' says 'they'.)
The technical term is pro-drop (from "pronoun-dropping") or null-subject. Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin all share this property; English, French, and German do not. In a non-pro-drop language like English, the subject pronoun is grammatically required — speak Italian is not a complete sentence. In a pro-drop language like Italian, parlo italiano is.
When to include the subject pronoun
There are five contexts where Italian speakers regularly include the subject pronoun.
1. Emphasis or contrast
When you want to highlight the subject — especially in opposition to someone else — the pronoun goes in.
Io non capisco niente di matematica, ma lui è un genio.
I don't understand a thing about maths, but he's a genius. (contrast: io vs lui)
Tu lavori troppo. Devi rilassarti.
You work too much. You need to relax. (emphasis on the addressee)
2. Disambiguating identical 3rd-person forms
The 3rd-person singular and 3rd-plural forms of many tenses are identical to other forms, especially in the subjunctive and conditional. Including the pronoun (or a noun) clarifies who is meant.
Voglio che lui parli con il direttore.
I want him to speak with the director. (parli is identical for io, tu, lui, lei in the present subjunctive — 'lui' disambiguates.)
Pensavo che lei venisse alla festa.
I thought she was coming to the party. (venisse is identical for io, tu, lui, lei in imperfect subjunctive.)
3. After anche, neanche, neppure, pure
These adverbs ("also, even, neither") attach to a subject pronoun, often forming a single phonological unit: anch'io (me too), neanch'io (me neither), neppur lui (not even him), pure tu (you too).
Anch'io vado a Roma il mese prossimo!
I'm going to Rome next month too!
Non mi piace il pesce. — Neanche a me!
I don't like fish. — Me neither! (note: 'neanche a me' — the disjunctive 'me', not the clitic, after a preposition.)
Pure lui è in vacanza questa settimana.
He's on holiday this week too.
4. Distinguishing formal Lei from informal lei
Italian 3rd-singular feminine and 2nd-singular formal are both spelled lei. In writing, the formal Lei is traditionally capitalised to disambiguate it from the 3rd-person feminine (lei = she). In speech, the difference is contextual.
Lei è la signora Rossi? Ha appuntamento con il dottore.
Are you Mrs Rossi? You have an appointment with the doctor. (capital Lei = formal 'you')
Lei è italiana, ma suo marito è francese.
She is Italian, but her husband is French. (lowercase lei = 'she')
5. After certain conjunctions, in literary or formal style
In formal writing, especially in correspondence, legal prose, or academic texts, subject pronouns appear more readily, particularly after conjunctions like mentre, poiché, sebbene.
Mentre io scrivevo, lei studiava in biblioteca.
While I was writing, she was studying in the library.
Sebbene tu sia molto giovane, hai già grandi responsabilità.
Although you are very young, you already have great responsibilities.
What Italian does not do — and what English speakers do by mistake
English uses subject pronouns to mark subject continuity (the same subject across sentences) and change of subject. Italian does neither of these things with subject pronouns.
English: I went to the bakery. I bought bread. I came home.
Italian: Sono andato al panificio. Ho comprato il pane. Sono tornato a casa. — no io, anywhere.
If you write Io sono andato al panificio. Io ho comprato il pane. Io sono tornato a casa, an Italian reader will hear something between excessive emphasis and a children's story. The repeated io feels heavy and unnatural.
Similarly, English speakers learning Italian sometimes try to use subject pronouns the way English uses I, myself or you, yourself — to add emphasis. Italian doesn't do this with the pronoun alone. For "I myself," Italian uses io stesso / io stessa (or proprio io); for "you yourself," tu stesso / tu stessa.
Io stesso ho preparato la cena ieri sera.
I myself made dinner last night. (io stesso = 'I myself')
Lo dirò proprio a lui.
I'll tell him myself. (proprio = emphatic 'precisely, exactly')
Lui, lei, loro — the spoken pronouns
In modern Italian, lui (he), lei (she), and loro (they) are the everyday subject forms. This is true for all registers from intimate to formal-spoken.
Curiously, lui, lei, loro are historically disjunctive (post-prepositional) forms — they descended from Latin illum, illam, illorum, the accusative-derived stressed forms. The "true" historical subject pronouns were the now-archaic egli, ella, essi, esse. Over centuries the disjunctive forms invaded subject position, and the inherited subject forms retreated into literary prose. The modern situation is irreversible: in conversation, only lui, lei, loro are used.
Lui è alto e magro, lei è bassa e robusta — sembrano una coppia improbabile.
He's tall and thin, she's short and stocky — they seem an unlikely pair.
Loro arrivano stasera in treno, noi andiamo a prenderli.
They're arriving by train tonight, we're going to pick them up.
The archaic pronouns: egli, ella, essi, esse
These survive only in literary, academic, and formal-archaic registers. You will encounter them in:
- 19th-century novels (Manzoni, Verga, D'Annunzio)
- Academic prose, especially older essays
- Legal and bureaucratic Italian (less today than in the past)
- Stylised public speech (formal speeches, religious texts)
You should recognise them — and you may occasionally need to use them in formal writing — but never use them in speech, where they sound stiff or even comical.
| Modern (everyday) | Archaic / literary | Where you'd see it |
|---|---|---|
| lui (he) | egli | literary prose, academic essays |
| lei (she) | ella | literary prose; occasionally still used for famous female figures |
| loro (they, m. or f.) | essi (m.), esse (f.) | academic prose, legal texts |
A historical detail: ella has had a slight revival in formal academic Italian when referring to important female figures, partly to avoid the apparent gender ambiguity of lei (since lei is also the formal "you"). You'll see it in academic biographies: Maria Montessori sviluppò il suo metodo nei primi anni del Novecento; ella riteneva che...
Egli era un uomo di grande dignità.
He was a man of great dignity. (literary register; in speech you would say 'lui era un uomo di grande dignità')
Esse non potevano partecipare alle assemblee pubbliche.
They (women) could not take part in public assemblies. (academic/historical writing)
The formal pronouns: Lei and Loro
Lei is the standard polite singular "you" in modern Italian. It takes 3rd-person singular verb agreement, regardless of the addressee's gender. (See Tu vs Lei: Informal vs Formal Address for the full sociolinguistic treatment.)
Loro as a plural formal "you" is archaic / very formal. In modern Italian, you address a group politely with voi — Loro survives mostly in luxury hotel/restaurant contexts (waiter to multiple guests: Cosa desiderano Loro?) and in extremely formal correspondence. Most everyday formal-plural address uses voi.
Lei è il signor Bianchi? La sta cercando il direttore.
Are you Mr Bianchi? The director is looking for you. (singular formal Lei)
Voi siete sicuri di voler partire stasera?
Are you sure you want to leave tonight? (everyday plural — formal or informal)
Loro desiderano ordinare adesso?
Would you like to order now? (very formal — typically restaurant or luxury service)
"It" as a subject — Italian has no word for it
Italian has no word for "it" as a subject pronoun. Inanimate subjects are simply implicit — the verb's ending tells you the subject is 3rd-person.
È bellissimo.
It's beautiful. (no subject pronoun — 'it' is implicit)
Funziona benissimo.
It works great. (no subject pronoun)
When emphasis is needed, Italian falls back on lui or lei depending on the gender of the noun being referred to — but this is unusual and slightly literary.
Quel libro? Lui mi ha cambiato la vita.
That book? It changed my life. (lui = il libro — masculine — but this is stylistic; you'd more naturally say 'mi ha cambiato la vita' alone)
Common mistakes
❌ Io vado al mercato, io compro il pane, io torno a casa.
Wrong cadence — Italian drops subject pronouns. The repeated 'io' sounds heavy and unnatural.
✅ Vado al mercato, compro il pane, torno a casa.
Correct — pro-drop is the norm.
❌ Lei è italiana, e Lei vive a Roma.
Ambiguous on the page — uppercase Lei normally means formal 'you', but here the meaning is 'she'. Use lowercase or restructure.
✅ Lei è italiana, e vive a Roma.
Correct — 'lei' (lowercase) plus pro-drop in the second clause.
❌ Egli è il mio migliore amico.
Stilted in speech — 'egli' is a literary pronoun, not used in conversation.
✅ Lui è il mio migliore amico.
Correct — modern spoken Italian uses 'lui'.
❌ Io stesso vado al mercato, io stesso compro il pane.
Awkward repetition — 'io stesso' is the equivalent of 'I myself' and is itself emphatic. You wouldn't repeat it.
✅ Io stesso vado al mercato e compro il pane.
Correct — emphasis stated once is enough.
❌ Cosa desiderano Loro? — said to two close friends in a casual restaurant
Wrong register — 'Loro' as plural-formal is used only in luxury/very formal contexts. To friends, you say 'voi'.
✅ Cosa volete?
Correct — 'voi' verb agreement, no pronoun needed.
Key takeaways
Italian is pro-drop. Subject pronouns are normally omitted; the verb ending identifies the subject. Including the pronoun always carries emphasis or contrast.
Use subject pronouns for emphasis, contrast, disambiguation, after anche-type adverbs, and to mark formal Lei. Outside these contexts, drop them.
The everyday spoken set is io, tu, lui, lei, Lei, noi, voi, loro. The archaic egli, ella, essi, esse are literary only.
Italian has no word for "it" as a subject. The 3rd-person verb ending alone is enough.
Don't use Loro as a casual plural formal "you". Use voi unless the context is genuinely luxury-formal.
For the social code that governs the tu/Lei distinction — when to switch, how to switch, and what each choice signals — see Tu vs Lei: Informal vs Formal Address. For the bigger context of pro-drop and how it interacts with verb morphology, see Subject Pronouns Are Dropped.
Now practice Italian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- Italian Pronouns: OverviewA1 — A roadmap of the entire Italian pronoun system — subject, object, reflexive, disjunctive, possessive, demonstrative, relative, interrogative, indefinite, plus the special particles ci and ne.
- Tu vs Lei: Informal vs Formal AddressA1 — The single most important sociolinguistic decision in Italian — when to use familiar tu, when to use polite Lei, how to switch between them, and the cultural signals each carries.
- Dropping Subject Pronouns (Pro-Drop)A1 — Why Italian leaves out io, tu, noi, and voi most of the time — and the few cases where you should keep them.
- Presente: Regular -are VerbsA1 — How to conjugate the largest and most regular class of Italian verbs in the present indicative — and how to avoid the stress trap that gives away every learner.