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Where the unstressed pronouns go, and what happens when two of them meet. The combinations are fused, irregular and entirely fixed.
The control text · practical
Buongiorno. Il 12 di questo mese mi è stato addebitato un importo di 89,90 euro che non riconosco. Immagino che si tratti di un errore: ho disdetto quel servizio a maggio e ne ho conservato la ricevuta. Le chiedo di accreditarmi la somma e di confermarmi per iscritto che l'abbonamento è stato chiuso. Se non riceverò riscontro entro venerdì, presenterò un reclamo. Resto in attesa.
Where the two part
Standard · the base
Before a finite verb; attached to an infinitive, gerund or imperative. In combination the indirect precedes the direct, mi/ti/ci/vi become me/te/ce/ve, and both gli and le become glie-, written as one word.
Regional · the contrast
Some regional speech reorders or simplifies the combinations. The standard forms are fixed and directly examinable.
10 options
Le chiedo di accreditarmi la somma. · Ne ho conservato la ricevuta.
The tellThe pronoun stands as a separate word in front of the verb.
Anchor A contains two. The default position, and no rule system decides it — the verb form does.
It means clitics cluster at the start of clauses, which takes getting used to.
di accreditarmi la somma · di confermarmi per iscritto
The tellOne word, with the infinitive's final -e gone.
Obligatory and mechanical. Anchor A does it twice.
Interacts with troncamento on SND-07, so two rules apply at once.
Mandami la ricevuta. · Dimmi. · Fallo.
The tellAttached — and with da', di', fa', sta', va' the pronoun's consonant doubles.
The doubling is a small closed list and it is the kind of detail that reads as real command of the language.
With gli the doubling does not happen, which breaks the pattern just where you expect it.
| Two pronouns | Fused |
|---|---|
| mi + lo | me lo |
| ti + la | te la |
| ci + ne | ce ne |
| vi + li | ve li |
The tellThe indirect comes first and its i becomes e.
Fully regular once seen: four pronouns, one vowel change, no exceptions.
The order is the reverse of what English suggests, and reversing it produces nonsense rather than an accent.
Ho mandato la ricevuta a Marco → Gliel'ho mandata. · a Maria → Gliel'ho mandata.
The tellOne word. Both gli (to him) and le (to her) collapse into glie-, so the gender disappears.
The single most characteristic clitic form in Italian, and using it fluently is a real marker.
It loses the gender distinction entirely, so context has to carry it — and learners often avoid it for that reason.
Standard Glielo voglio mandare.
Regional Voglio mandarglielo.
The tellWith volere, potere and dovere the cluster may go in front of the modal or onto the infinitive.
Genuinely free: both are standard, both are common, and you can pick by rhythm.
Free choice means no rule to lean on, and mixing the two within a paragraph looks unsettled.
Ce ne sono tre. · Non ce n'è più.
The tellTwo particles fused, then elided. Anchor B contains ci saranno in its uncombined form.
Extremely high frequency — ce n'è is everyday speech.
Its spelling is one of the classic native errors, and it appears on ORT-02 for that reason.
Ho visto la ricevuta → L'ho vista. · Le ho viste.
The tellA preceding direct-object clitic pulls agreement onto the participle. Nothing else with avere does.
The rule is narrow, exceptionless and examinable. Its own sheet is GRM-08.
It means the auxiliary rule and the agreement rule interact, so both must be held at once.
Standard Le ho mandato la ricevuta.
Regional Ho mandato la ricevuta a lei.
The tellA full prepositional phrase where a clitic would have done.
Correct, and it adds emphasis or removes the gender ambiguity that glielo creates.
Longer and heavier. Used as a default it reads as translated rather than composed.
Ho mandato la ricevuta a Marco. — nouns throughout, no clitics at all
The tellNo pronoun anywhere, so no fusion to get wrong.
Always correct, and in a first draft it is a reasonable way to keep moving.
Repetition of full nouns is heavy, and in an exam it reads as avoiding the structure being tested.