Negative imperative with dual clitics (non darmelo!)

To tell someone not to do something informally (the tu form), Italian uses non followed by the infinitive of the verb, such as non dare (do not give) or non portare (do not bring).

Combining dual clitics

When you want to specify both to whom (indirect object) and what (direct object), you combine two pronouns. The indirect pronoun always comes first, and its vowel changes to an -e.

For the third person, both gli (to him) and le (to her) become glie- and fuse with the direct object pronoun into a single word: glielo, gliela, glieli, gliele.

Attaching pronouns to the negative imperative

To attach these double pronouns to the negative imperative, you add them directly to the end of the infinitive verb. Just drop the final -e of the infinitive before attaching the pronouns.

• non dare
  • melo = non darmelo
• non portare
  • celi = non portarceli

When telling someone not to give or lend something to a third person (him or her), use the fused glie- forms.

Matching the object

Always ensure the direct object part of your combined pronoun (lo, la, li, le) matches the gender and number of the noun you are replacing. This is especially important to remember when discussing everyday office supplies.

For example, le forbici (the scissors) is feminine plural, so it uses le (e.g., gliele). La calcolatrice (the calculator) is feminine singular, so it uses la (e.g., gliela).