ILGUR: Italian Language, Grammar and Usage Resource

In Italian, there are two ways of saying you:
This article relates to the formal and informal you in relation to subject pronouns. Other pronouns will be discussed in a later lesson.

1. You can be expressed informally in Italian in both the singular and plural. Informal you is used with children, animals and people that you know (friends, family, etc.).

   tu = you (singular)
   voi = you (plural)

   In literature and some older Italian texts, voi was used for the formal you.

2. The formal you is expressed with:

   Lei = you (singular)
   Loro = you (plural)

   They can be capitalized to distinguish between she/they (lei and loro, respectively), but this is not a requirement. It is helpful to capitalize Lei/Loro to avoid ambiguities when such ambiguities present themselves or when the meaning cannot be inferred easily from the context.

   Use for formal ‘you’ when speaking with strangers, colleagues at work with whom you are not on familiar terms, and during other formal encounters.

   TAKE NOTE!!
   Wait until you hear the expression, Diamoci del tu (from the verb: darsi del tu which means ‘to use the tu form’; meaning: Let us use the tu form with each other or Let’s use the tu form). This will tell you that it is ok to use the tu forms when addressing this person.

   ALSO TAKE NOTE!!
   In Italian subject pronouns are typically omitted since the pronoun is implied with the verb form. Click here on using subject pronouns in Italian. Stay tuned for a later lesson on other formal pronouns.