"Tu îi dai lui o farfurie."

Translation: You give him a plate.

[Lucas_Marcel]

in this sentence, it is used "îi" and "lui"aparently with the same meaning... cant one of them be supressed?

[potestasity]

Yes, "lui" is optional and can be omitted. Doing so, however, removes any information about the gender of the receiver (because "îi" doesn't carry any), so the English translation could be either "him" or "her".

[Lucas_Marcel]

thanks!