Breakdown of L'ammiratore compra un profumo caro e glielo manda.
un
a / an (masculine)
e
and
caro
expensive, dear
comprare
to buy
Questions & Answers about L'ammiratore compra un profumo caro e glielo manda.
The translation says "sends it to her", but doesn't gli mean "to him"?
Normally, yes! By itself, the pronoun for "to him" is gli and "to her" is le. However, when we combine them with a direct object pronoun (like lo, la, li, or le), both change to glie- with an 'e' connecting them. So, glielo can mean either "it to him" or "it to her". You have to rely on context to know which one it is!
What exactly does glielo break down into in this sentence?
It combines two pronouns into one word. glie- is the indirect object meaning "to her" (the person receiving the gift), and -lo is the direct object meaning "it" (the perfume being sent).
Why is it glielo and not gliela?
The second part of the combined pronoun (-lo) has to match the grammatical gender of the object being sent. Since un profumo (a perfume) is masculine, we use -lo. If the admirer were sending a letter (una lettera, feminine), it would be gliela manda.
Why does glielo come before the verb manda?