Modern Italian Grammar by Proudfoot Anna; Cardo Francesco;

Author:Proudfoot, Anna; Cardo, Francesco;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1396901
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

19.3.2 Verbs with a direct and indirect object

In the case of verbs such as dare, dire, inviare, mandare, passare, presentare, prestare, raccontare, regalare, rubare, spedire, there is often a direct object and an indirect object. The equivalent verbs in English have two direct objects (‘to send you it’, ‘to lend you it’, etc.).

Take as an example this sentence in English:

I've had my watch stolen.

You cannot make the person who has had his/her watch stolen the subject of the action in Italian. In this example, mi is an indirect object and cannot be made the subject of a passive sentence. So you have two options.

The direct object can become the subject of a passive verb:

Mi è stato rubato l'orologio.

(Literally: My watch has been stolen from me.)

Alternatively, you can use the third person plural active verb form (see 19.3.3). In informal spoken or written Italian, this is probably the more common of the two options:

Mi hanno rubato l'orologio.

(Literally: They have stolen my watch from me.)

The same applies to the next example. You cannot make the person (gli) the subject of a passive sentence. So you have two options.

English sentence:

He was offered a good job.

You can either make the direct object (un buon posto) the subject of a passive verb:

Gli è stato offerto un buon posto.

Or you can use the third person plural active verb form (see 19.3.3 below):

Gli hanno offerto un buon posto.

Of the two options, the use of the third person plural active verb form is probably the most common in informal spoken or written Italian.

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