Learn Italian: Ascolto la canzone, ma non la ricordo. - I listen to the song, but I do not remember it.

Ascolto la canzone, ma non la ricordo.

I listen to the song, but I do not remember it.

Breakdown of Ascolto la canzone, ma non la ricordo.

to listen / to listen to

la canzone

the song

Questions & Answers about Ascolto la canzone, ma non la ricordo.

Why does the second half of the sentence use "la ricordo" instead of "ricordo la"?

In Italian, short object pronouns like la (which means "it" or "her") usually go right before the verb, not after it like in English. Here, la replaces la canzone.

Why is "la" used to mean "it" here instead of "lo"?

The pronoun must match the gender of the noun it replaces. Because la canzone (the song) is feminine, we use the feminine pronoun la to say "it". If we were talking about a masculine noun like il libro (the book), we would use lo.

Where does "non" go when there is an object pronoun like "la"?

The negative word non goes right before the pronoun. The correct order is always non + pronoun + verb, giving us non la ricordo.

The English translation says "I listen to the song". Why is there no Italian word for "to" after "Ascolto"?

The Italian verb ascoltare means "to listen to". The "to" is already built into the verb's meaning, so you connect it directly to the object: Ascolto la canzone.