"The woman reads him her book."

Translation: La donna gli legge il suo libro.

[thmarchi]

I got it correct, but could I have also written: "la donna lo legge il suo libro"?

I'm still confused on when to use "gli" or "lo" for the direct object "him".

Anyone?

[barra86]

"gli" means "a lui" or "to him" (as dative case), "lo" means "lui" or "him" (as accusative case).
If you wrote "la donna lo legge il suo libro", "lo" would be refered to the book and not to the man (him) to whom the book is read.

[chris.stan2]

Helpful yes, but I have a feeling I'll still keep missing it. Notice the sentence in English doesn't use "to" She reads him her book vs She reads to him her book. (We naturally remove the to). I'll keep trying though. :)

[Kharoda]

chris.stan2, it might help you to rearrange the word order a bit. You could change the English sentence to, "She reads her book to him," which preserves the "to" and has the exact same meaning. :)

[Susana551]

Great explanation! Thanks

[Johari-Qiant]

Agree

[thmarchi]

Thanks. It makes better sense now!

[Archangelica]

That confused me too, I put "lo"

[PliLopes]

VEEEERY HELPFUL! Thanks!

[cadal99]

Thanks much! I keep messing it up ( like I did here and put what the original question asked :( ) but this helps!

[xyphax]

this chart is organized to see how to use each pronoun before a verb. It might help you quickly answer your question when you see a particular pronoun, how it can work.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw00FD60mORud3VtMkQyZmJ0MTA/edit?usp=sharing

[fofolafo]

Hey xyphax, can you post the full web address for the chart please. The link is not working from my phone

[xyphax]

all set ;-)

[German4me22]

I think this is easier for UK English speakers rather than US speakers. In UK , it would be normal to say ' She reads the book TO him' .... This makes it quite clear that the direct object is 'the book' and the indirect object is 'him'

[StellaHowe1]

You're not the only one. I don't think this has been explained satisfactorily, especially as we have met gli in a different contexts.

[haoy]

how would you say: "The woman reads him HIS book"? Wouldn't it be the same as "HER book" in this case?

[DerekSimms]

Yes, because the book is masculine and therefore demands 'il suo'. Also the word 'from' - 'da', would become 'dallo [libro]' and probably clarify context.

[Lavmarx]

I don't even know how I'm getting these answers right because I clearly don't know what I'm doing here.

[lizabeling]

Is there a difference between how you would say this and how you would say "The woman reads him his book," or do you just assume based on conversational context clues?

[AlexKri]

why not "li legge" here?

[xyphax]

Because li means them as a direct object .. but here we have him as an indirect object ..
gli legge = she reads to him

[Samisthesam]

Any reason that leggegli doesn't work? I'm still trying to understand the whole reasoning behind adding indirect object pronouns to the end of words.

[Sofia222677]

You add object pronouns to the end of a verb only when the latter is in its infinitive form:

Devo leggergli il libro = gli devo leggere il libro (I have to read the book to him)

[David126947]

As far as I can see, use the direct version for "him/it", and the indirect version for "to him/it, for him/it"
Then you have to choose between Tonic and Atonic cases

[SdSmM1]

Why is 'gli' before 'legge'?

[Dianne465361]

i'm struggling with when to use la sua or il suo, is there an easy thing i've missed? Fem/masc ?

[Chel451498]

You've got it! It is whether the object, in this case 'her book', is masculine or feminine. Il libro here becomes "il suo libro* as book is masculine. You will know if it is 'her' or 'his' book from the context of the situation.

[Dianne465361]

Thanks so much!