Infinitive: Clitic Attachment | Italian Grammar

When you combine a clitic pronoun with an infinitive in Italian, two things happen: the clitic moves to the end of the infinitive (it becomes an enclitic), and the final -e of the infinitive drops. The result is a single written word: vederlo (to see him), dirmi (to tell me), darti (to give you), alzarsi (to get up).

This is one of the most distinctive structures in Italian — and one of the most common, since infinitives appear after every modal verb, after every preposition, and in countless verb chains. If you cannot do this attachment fluently, every fourth Italian sentence will trip you up.

The basic rule

To attach a clitic to an infinitive:

Take the infinitive: vedere.
Drop the final -e: veder-.
Attach the clitic: vederlo (to see him).

The result is written as one word, and the stress stays on the original syllable of the infinitive (vedérlo, not vederló).

Infinitive	Clitic	Result	Meaning
vedere	lo	vederlo	to see him/it
vedere	la	vederla	to see her/it
dire	mi	dirmi	to tell me
dare	ti	darti	to give you
dare	gli	dargli	to give to him
parlare	le	parlarle	to speak to her
aiutare	vi	aiutarvi	to help you (pl.)
fare	ne	farne	to do/make some of it

Voglio vederlo subito.

I want to see him right away.

Devi dirmi tutta la verità.

You have to tell me the whole truth.

Posso aiutarvi?

Can I help you (all)?

Spero di rivederla presto.

I hope to see her again soon.

All seven simple clitics attach the same way

The mechanics are identical for every direct-object, indirect-object, reflexive, and ne/ci clitic:

Clitic type	Forms	Example
direct object	mi, ti, lo, la, ci, vi, li, le	vederlo, conoscerla, aiutarli
indirect object	mi, ti, gli, le, ci, vi, gli (loro)	dirmi, parlargli, scriverle
reflexive	mi, ti, si, ci, vi, si	alzarsi, lavarmi, divertirsi
partitive ne	ne	parlarne, prenderne
locative ci	ci	andarci, restarci

Voglio andarci anche io.

I want to go there too.

Non posso parlarne adesso.

I can't talk about it right now.

Mi piace prendermi cura di loro.

I like taking care of them. (reflexive prendermi)

Reflexive verbs — the pronoun matches the subject

Reflexive verbs are listed with the -si ending: alzarsi, lavarsi, divertirsi. When the verb is used in a sentence, the reflexive enclitic must match the implied subject:

Subject	Form (alzarsi)
io	alzarmi
tu	alzarti
lui/lei	alzarsi
noi	alzarci
voi	alzarvi
loro	alzarsi

Devo alzarmi presto domani.

I have to get up early tomorrow.

Voglio divertirmi stasera.

I want to have fun tonight.

I bambini devono lavarsi le mani prima di mangiare.

The kids have to wash their hands before eating.

The reflexive pronoun changes with the subject — it is not always -si. Voglio alzarsi (intended: I want to get up) is wrong; it must be Voglio alzarmi.

Double clitics

Italian allows two clitics to attach together. The order is fixed: indirect object first, then direct object. The indirect-object clitics change form when followed by a direct-object clitic:

Indirect alone	Before direct (lo, la, li, le, ne)
mi	me
ti	te
gli/le	glie- (combined: glielo, gliela, glieli, gliele, gliene)
ci	ce
vi	ve

When attached to an infinitive, both clitics come at the end:

Pattern	Example	Meaning
infinitive + me + lo	dirmelo	to tell it to me
infinitive + te + la	dartela	to give it to you (f.)
infinitive + glie + lo	darglielo	to give it to him/her
infinitive + ce + ne	portarcene	to bring some of it to us
infinitive + ve + li	mandarveli	to send them to you (pl.)

Devi dirmelo subito.

You have to tell it to me right away.

Voglio dartela in regalo.

I want to give it to you as a present.

Posso portarteli domani?

Can I bring them to you tomorrow?

Spero di poter spiegarvelo meglio.

I hope I can explain it to you (pl.) better.

This is the most important variation. With modal verbs (potere, volere, dovere, sapere) — and a few other verbs that pattern with them (preferire, osare, andare/venire) — the clitic has two equally valid positions:

Attached to the infinitive (enclisis): Voglio vederlo.
Climbed to before the modal (proclisis): Lo voglio vedere.

Both mean exactly the same thing. Both are standard. Both are common.

Enclitic	Climbing	Meaning
Voglio vederlo.	Lo voglio vedere.	I want to see him.
Devo dirti una cosa.	Ti devo dire una cosa.	I have to tell you something.
Posso aiutarvi?	Vi posso aiutare?	Can I help you?
So farlo.	Lo so fare.	I know how to do it.

Lo voglio vedere subito.

I want to see him right away.

Te lo posso dire io.

I can tell it to you.

Mi devo alzare presto.

I have to get up early.

Ce ne dobbiamo andare.

We have to go (away).

💡

Both positions are correct, but they have a slight stylistic difference: enclisis (vederlo) is more neutral, while climbing (lo voglio vedere) is slightly more conversational and often preferred when the clitic is reflexive (mi, ti, si). When in doubt, both work — pick whichever feels easier in the moment.

Climbing with reflexives — the natural choice

For reflexive verbs with modals, climbing is especially common in everyday speech:

Mi devo alzare alle sei.

I have to get up at six.

Ti puoi sedere qui.

You can sit here.

Si vuole divertire un po'.

He/she wants to have a little fun.

The enclitic version (Devo alzarmi alle sei, Puoi sederti qui) is also fine, but reflexive climbing has a particularly natural feel in conversation.

Climbing is NOT possible with most other verb chains

The modal-verb climbing rule is specific. With most other verbs that take an infinitive complement, the clitic must attach to the infinitive — climbing is ungrammatical:

✅ Spero di vederlo.

I hope to see him. (correct — clitic on infinitive)

❌ Lo spero di vedere.

Incorrect — sperare doesn't allow clitic climbing.

✅ Cerco di aiutarti.

I'm trying to help you. (correct — clitic on infinitive)

❌ Ti cerco di aiutare.

Incorrect — cercare doesn't allow clitic climbing.

The verbs that allow climbing are essentially: potere, volere, dovere, sapere, andare, venire, preferire, osare, lasciare, plus a few others. With all the di-verbs (sperare, cercare, decidere, finire, smettere) and most a-verbs (cominciare, riuscire, imparare), the clitic stays on the infinitive.

After a preposition — clitic on infinitive

When the infinitive follows a preposition (senza, prima di, per, dopo, di, a, etc.), the clitic always attaches to the infinitive. There is no "climbing" possible because there is no host verb to climb to.

Sono uscito senza salutarlo.

I left without saying hello to him.

Prima di partire, devo chiamarla.

Before leaving, I have to call her.

Ti ringrazio per avermi aiutato.

Thank you for helping me.

Dopo essersi alzata, ha preparato il caffè.

After getting up, she made coffee.

For perfect infinitives (avere/essere + participle), the clitic attaches to the auxiliary, not to the participle: avermi aiutato (not avere aiutatomi), essersi alzata (not essere alzatasi).

Negative tu imperative — clitic attaches

The negative tu imperative is non + infinitive (see overview). Clitics attach as enclitics:

Non dirmelo!

Don't tell me!

Non preoccuparti.

Don't worry. (reflexive)

Non toccarlo, è caldo.

Don't touch it, it's hot.

Both Non dirmelo! (enclitic) and Non me lo dire! (proclitic) are standard and current — the negative tu imperative is the one place where the clitic can sit on either side. Pick whichever feels more natural; native speakers freely alternate.

Common mistakes

❌ Voglio vedere lo.

Incorrect — clitic must attach to the infinitive as one word; the -e of vedere drops.

✅ Voglio vederlo.

Correct — written as one word.

❌ Voglio vederelo.

Incorrect — the final -e of the infinitive must drop before the clitic.

✅ Voglio vederlo.

Correct — vedere → veder + lo.

❌ Voglio alzarsi presto. (intended meaning: I want to get up)

Incorrect — reflexive must agree with subject; for io, it's mi, not si.

✅ Voglio alzarmi presto.

Correct — reflexive enclitic matches the subject (io → mi).

❌ Lo voglio dirgli.

Incorrect — you can't have one clitic climbing and another attached. Either both climb or both attach.

✅ Glielo voglio dire. / Voglio dirglielo.

Correct — both climb together (Glielo voglio dire) or both attach together (Voglio dirglielo).

❌ Lo spero di vedere.

Incorrect — sperare doesn't allow clitic climbing. Only modals and a few others do.

✅ Spero di vederlo.

Correct — clitic must attach to the infinitive after sperare.

❌ Dopo avere lo visto, sono andato via.

Incorrect — with the perfect infinitive, the clitic attaches to the auxiliary (avere), not to the participle, and the auxiliary's -e drops: averlo.

✅ Dopo averlo visto, sono andato via.

Correct — clitic attaches to avere as one word: averlo visto (after seeing him).

Key takeaways

Clitic attachment to the infinitive is a daily-use mechanic in Italian:

Drop the final -e of the infinitive, then attach the clitic. Vedere + lo → vederlo.
Both clitics attach together when there are two. Dire + me + lo → dirmelo. Dare + glie + lo → darglielo.
Reflexive enclitics must agree with the subject — alzarmi, alzarti, alzarsi, alzarci, alzarvi, alzarsi. This is the single most common error point.
With modal verbs, the clitic can attach to the infinitive (Voglio vederlo) or climb to before the modal (Lo voglio vedere). Both are correct; both are common.
With all other infinitive-taking verbs, the clitic stays on the infinitive — no climbing.
In the negative tu imperative, the clitic attaches to the infinitive: Non dirmelo! Non preoccuparti!

Mastering this mechanic unlocks a huge percentage of natural Italian sentences. The pattern is consistent and once it becomes automatic, you'll find yourself producing — and decoding — clitic-rich Italian without effort.

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