Pronomi indiretti

While direct object nouns and pronouns answer the question what? or whom?, indirect object nouns and pronouns answer the question to whom? or for whom? In English the word to can be omitted, but in Italian the preposition a always occurs before an indirect object noun.

Indirect object pronouns replace indirect object nouns. In Italian they are identical to direct object pronouns, except for the 3rd person forms.

c1 c2>
Singular Plural
mi - to/for me ci - to/for us
ti - to/for you vi - to/for you
gli - to/for him, it (m.) gli - to/for them (m. and f.)
le - to/for her, it (f.) loro - (formal) to/for them (m. and f.)

Indirect object pronouns behave like direct object pronouns, and usually precede a conjugated verb, except for loro, which is more formal than gli and always follows the verb.

Regaliamo un libro a Lucia (We give a book to Lucia) - Le regaliamo un libro (We give her a book)
Ti posso offrire un caffè? (Can I offer you a coffee?) - Posso offrirti un caffè? (Can I offer you a coffee?)
Voglio parlare ad Alex e Anna (I want to talk to Alex and Anna) - Voglio parlargli/Gli voglio parlare/Voglio parlare loro (I want to talk to them)
Scrivi ai tuoi genitori? No, gli telefono (Are you writing to your parents? No, I'm phoning them)