Questions & Answers about Ti rispondo subito.
Ti is the unstressed object pronoun meaning to you in this sentence.
With rispondere, Italian usually expresses the person you answer with an indirect object:
- Rispondo a Marco = I answer Marco / I answer to Marco
- Ti rispondo = I answer you / I reply to you
So even though English just says I answer you or more often I reply to you, Italian uses ti.
Because ti is the clitic pronoun used before the verb.
Compare:
- Ti rispondo subito. = I’ll answer you right away.
- Rispondo a te. = I’m answering you. / I answer you.
This version is more emphatic, as if contrasting with someone else.
So:
- ti = normal unstressed form before the verb
- te = stressed form, usually after a preposition like a