Non glielo posso confessare, ma i miei sentimenti sono forti.

Questions & Answers about Non glielo posso confessare, ma i miei sentimenti sono forti.

How does the word glielo work in this sentence?
Glielo is a combined pronoun that fuses gli (to him) and lo (it). Whenever the indirect pronouns gli or le meet a direct pronoun like lo, they join together with an extra 'e' in the middle. So here, glielo means "it to him".
Could glielo also mean "it to her"?
Yes! Both gli (to him) and le (to her) change to glie- when combined with another pronoun. So glielo can mean "it to him", "it to her", or even "it to you" (formal). You would rely on the context of the conversation to know who is being spoken about.
Could I attach glielo to the end of the verb instead?
Yes, you can. Because posso is a modal verb followed by the infinitive confessare, you have two options. You can put the pronoun before the conjugated verb (Non glielo posso confessare), or you can attach it to the infinitive by dropping its final 'e' (Non posso confessarglielo). Both mean the exact same thing.
Why is there an i before miei sentimenti?
In Italian, you almost always must use a definite article (like il, la, i, or le) before a possessive word. English just says "my feelings", but Italian literally says "the my feelings" (i miei sentimenti). The main exception to this rule is for singular family members.

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