Learn Italian: Le diamo un fiore. - We are giving her a flower.

Le diamo un fiore.

We are giving her a flower.

Breakdown of Le diamo un fiore.

Questions & Answers about Le diamo un fiore.

Why do we use Le here instead of La?

Le is an indirect object pronoun, meaning "to her". We use it here because we are giving a flower to her. La is a direct object pronoun meaning just "her" (for example, if you were to say "I see her"). With verbs like dare (to give), the person receiving the object gets the indirect pronoun.

Why does Le come before the verb instead of after?

In Italian, short pronouns like Le usually go directly in front of the conjugated verb. So, instead of using the English word order "We give her", Italian uses the order "To her we give" (Le diamo).

Where is the word for "we" in this sentence?

The "we" is built right into the verb. Diamo is the "we" form of the verb dare (to give). Because the verb ending already tells us who is doing the action, Italian usually drops the pronoun noi (we) unless there is a special need to emphasize it.

Could Le mean anything else besides "to her"?

Yes! Le is also the formal "to you" pronoun. Without the surrounding context, Le diamo un fiore could also mean "We are giving you a flower" if you were speaking respectfully to a stranger, a teacher, or a doctor.