Want more practice with pronominal verbs? Consider taking the 10-Day Italian Pronouns Challenge.
In Italian, a pronominal verb is basically a verb mixed with pronouns.
Pronominal verbs look similar to verbs you already know, making it a little bit easier to take a guess at their meaning.
We’re all familiar with the Italian verb ‘andare,’ meaning ‘to go’.
The pronominal verb that looks similar to andare is andarsene.
You can guess by how it looks that andarsene probably has something to do with going somewhere.
Andarsene means ‘to go away somewhere’.
Pronominal verbs often end in –sene.
The ‘se’ is actually the pronoun ‘si,’ but it changes to ‘se’ because it is preceding another pronoun.
The pronoun it is preceding in this case is ‘ne,’ which is called a pronominal particle. The ‘ne’ often refers to something or somewhere. In the case of andarsene, it relates to somewhere.
Here are some other pronominal verbs that end in –sene:
– pentirsene – to regret something
– fregarsene – to not care (only used colloquially) about something
– guardarsene – to beware, to avoid something
Any time any of the pronouns mi, ti, si, ci or vi come before another pronoun, like the ‘ne’ of andarsene, they change to me, te, se, ce or ve.
This is just one of those rules you have to get used to with Italian.
Besides –sene, pronominal verbs can have other endings too.
They can end in –sela, -sele, -cisi and –ci, just to name a few.
The common thread is that they are all combinations of verbs and pronouns.
Here are a few other pronominal verbs before we get into how to conjugating them.
– volerci – to take (as in time, effort, etc.)
– cavarsela – to manage, to get by
– avercela – be angry or upset by someone
– trovarcisi – to find oneself
– dormirsela – to sleep soundly
So… how on earth do you conjugate these things?
Where do all the pieces go?
Let’s use andarsene as an example.
Do you remember how to conjugate andare?
If not, here’s a quick refresher course:
Io vado | Noi andiamo |
Tu vai | Voi andate |
Lui/Lei va | Loro vanno |
If you’ve got that down, you’re halfway there to conjugating andarsene.
To complete the conjugation, you’ll also need to know the six reflexive pronouns (the kind you use with reflexive verbs.)
These are:
Mi |
Ti |
Si |
Ci |
Vi |
Si |
However, remember that since these pronouns are going in front of another pronoun, in this case ‘ne,’ they end with e’s instead of i’s.
That would make them:
Me |
Te |
Se |
Ce |
Ve |
Se |
The formula for conjugating a pronominal verb is as follows:
Reflexive verb pronoun + Pronominal particle + Conjugated verb = Conjugated Pronominal Verb
Let’s see what that actually looks like in the case of andarsene.
Me ne vado | Ce ne andiamo |
Te ne vai | Ve ne andate |
Se ne va | Se ne vanno |
The reflexive verb goes first, then the pronominal particle, then the conjugated form of ‘andare.’
Esempi:
— È gia l’una?! Allora me ne vado. – It’s already 1?! Well I’m leaving then.
— Te ne vai? Perché? – You’re leaving? Why?
Let’s see two more examples with endings other than –sene. First, here’s avercela, which means to be angry.
Ce l’ho | Ce l’abbiamo |
Ce l’hai | Ce l’avete |
Ce l’ha | Ce l’hanno |
Esempi:
— Ce l’ho con lei. – I am angry with her.
— Ce l’ha con me, perché ho mangiato la sua torta. – She’s mad at me because I ate her cake.
This one’s a little different because instead of a reflexive verb pronoun and pronominal particle, there are two pronouns, ‘ce’ and ‘la.’
However, the format is the same.
The conjugated verb goes last and is preceded by the two pronouns. ‘La’ becomes ‘l’’ because it is preceding verb conjugations that begin with a/h.
This is just a way to make the speech more fluid and beautiful.
With any verb that ends in –cela, the ce and la never change. All you have to remember is how to conjugate the verb that precedes them.
The final example is volerci, meaning to take (as in time or effort.)
This one’s even easier because it’s only conjugated in two ways:
Ci vuole | Ci vogliono |
Ci vuole is used when you are referencing something singular; ci vogliono is used when you are referencing something plural.
This is commonly used in reference to how long it takes to get somewhere.
– Ci vuole un’ora per arrivare a Roma. – It takes an hour to arrive in Rome.
– Ci vogliono tre ore per andare a Firenze. – It takes three hours to go to Florence.
With any pronominal verb, the pronouns go first and the conjugated verb goes last.
Finally, here are a few more examples of Italian pronominal verbs at work.
– Se la dormiva alla grande. – He (or she) was sleeping soundly.
– Riuscirà a cavarsela nel migliore dei modi. – He (or she) will be able to manage it in the best possible way.
– Non capisco come mai Marta continua ad avercela con me. – I don’t understand why Marta is still angry with me.
– Potrebbe pentirsene amaramente. – He (or she) could regret it bitterly.
Want more practice with pronominal verbs? Consider taking the 10-Day Italian Pronouns Challenge.
Have any questions? Leave them in the comments section below.
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