Chapter 6: Chi porta cosa? | Speak and Write Italian, Volume II

Chapter Overview and Objectives

September is decided, but a date is not a festival. The morning after the meeting at Rita's, Marco, Paolo, and Rita sit down at the bar on the corner with a notebook and a very long list: chairs, tables, food, music, permits, decorations, and someone to talk to the shop owners on the street. Every item on the list needs a person attached to it, and as the three of them work through it, they keep needing to refer back to things and people they have already mentioned — the chairs Paolo is borrowing, the music Rita is choosing, the shopkeepers Marco is calling — without repeating the same noun every time. This chapter introduces the tool that makes that possible: direct object pronouns. By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

Recognize and use the direct object pronouns lo, la, li, and le to refer back to a person or thing already mentioned.
Place a direct object pronoun correctly before a conjugated verb.
Make the past participle agree with a preceding direct object pronoun in the passato prossimo.
Assign and discuss tasks using direct object pronouns instead of repeating full nouns.
Identify and correct common English-speaker errors in direct object pronoun placement and agreement.
Understand and retell a conversation in which several people divide responsibility for a shared project.

Communication Scenario

Marco, Paolo, and Rita meet at the corner bar the morning after the meeting to divide the festival tasks. Someone has to borrow chairs, someone has to choose the music, someone has to call the shop owners on the street, and someone has to organize the food. As they work through the list, they keep referring back to the same items and people without repeating the nouns each time.

You will read and listen to Marco, Paolo, and Rita dividing the festival tasks.
You will then divide a set of tasks of your own — for an event, a project, or a household job — using direct object pronouns to refer back to what has already been assigned.

Where This Chapter Fits

Chapter 6 continues directly from Chapter 5's account of the meeting at Rita's apartment. It assumes full productive control of the sequencing connectors and prima di + infinitive from Chapter 5, the interruption pattern from Chapter 4, and everything recycled from Volume I. This chapter does not reteach sequencing or tense formation; it adds a new tool — direct object pronouns — for referring back to people and things across a conversation without repeating full nouns.

Coming Into This Chapter

You can already organize a multi-stage story with sequencing connectors and describe one action happening before another with prima di + infinitive.

In This Chapter

You will learn to replace an already-mentioned person or thing with lo, la, li, or le, place the pronoun correctly before the verb, and make the past participle agree with it in the passato prossimo.

Looking Forward

A later chapter in this unit will introduce indirect object pronouns, so learners can distinguish giving something to someone from doing something to a thing.

Vocabolario — Core Vocabulary

Core Vocabulary

This chapter introduces vocabulary for organizing tasks and assigning responsibility. Everything else recycles vocabulary from Volume I and Chapters 1–5.

Italian	English
il compito	the task
la lista	the list
occuparsi di	to take care of, to handle
prendere in prestito	to borrow
chiedere il permesso	to ask for permission
i negozianti	the shop owners
la musica	the music
le decorazioni	the decorations
dividersi i compiti	to divide up the tasks (among themselves)

Italian	English
Chi si occupa di...?	Who's taking care of...?
Me ne occupo io.	I'll take care of it.
Lascia fare a me.	Leave it to me.
Va bene, ci penso io.	Okay, I'll take care of that.

Reminder: sequencing connectors, prima di + infinitive, the interruption pattern, and passato prossimo/imperfetto formation from Volume I and Chapters 1–5 are recycled here, not retaught. The expression Me ne occupo io and ci penso io are introduced here as formulaic responses; the pronouns ne and ci inside them are not yet analyzed and are not assessment targets in this chapter.

Pronunciation Focus

Pronunciation Focus — keeping the pronoun attached to the verb

Because a direct object pronoun sits directly before its verb with no article or pause between them, Italian speakers pronounce the pronoun and the verb as a single rhythmic unit: lo prendo is said as one smooth phrase, not as two separate words with a break in the middle. English speakers sometimes insert a small pause after the pronoun out of habit from English word order ("it — I take"); Italian keeps the pronoun tight against the verb.

6.1 Vowel elision before a vowel sound

Lo and la often shorten to l' before a verb beginning with a vowel sound: lo aspetto becomes l'aspetto in natural speech and writing. Practice saying l'aspetto, l'ho fatto, and l'ha portata as single unbroken words.

6.2 Stress on the verb, not the pronoun

In a sentence like Li porto io, the stress falls on the verb (POR-to) and again on the final io for emphasis, never on the short pronoun li itself. Keep object pronouns light and unstressed.

Grammar and Sentence Patterns

Language Focus — direct object pronouns

A direct object answers the question "what?" or "whom?" after a verb. Once a person or thing has been named, Italian usually replaces it with a short pronoun rather than repeating the full noun:

Pronoun	Replaces	Example
lo	masculine singular person or thing	Il tavolo? Lo prende Paolo.
la	feminine singular person or thing	La musica? La sceglie Rita.
li	masculine plural people or things	I tavoli? Li prende Paolo.
le	feminine plural people or things	Le sedie? Le porta Marco.

Placement: the direct object pronoun goes directly before a conjugated verb, never after it: Lo prendo (I'll get it), not Prendo lo. This is the opposite of English word order, where the object usually follows the verb ("I take it").

Language Focus — participle agreement with direct object pronouns

In the passato prossimo, when a direct object pronoun comes before the verb avere, the past participle must agree with that pronoun in gender and number — even though participles with avere normally do not change:

Italian	English
Il tavolo? Paolo lo ha preso ieri.	The table? Paolo took it yesterday.
La musica? Rita l'ha scelta stamattina.	The music? Rita chose it this morning.
I tavoli? Li ha presi Paolo.	The tables? Paolo took them.
Le sedie? Le ha portate Marco.	The chairs? Marco brought them.

Notice that preso becomes presa, presi, or prese depending on what lo, la, li, or le replaces. This agreement rule applies only with direct object pronouns before avere; it does not apply to ordinary sentences with a named object, such as Paolo ha preso il tavolo, where the participle stays in its base form.

Language Focus — object pronouns and sequencing together

Direct object pronouns work naturally alongside the sequencing connectors from Chapter 5. A speaker can now open a new stage of a conversation and immediately refer back to something mentioned in an earlier stage without repeating it:

Prima abbiamo parlato delle sedie. Poi Paolo le ha prese in prestito da suo cugino.

First we talked about the chairs. Then Paolo borrowed them from his cousin. — Notice that le refers back to le sedie from the previous sentence, and the participle prese agrees with it.

You are still building this skill. Indirect object pronouns, combined pronouns, and pronoun placement with infinitives and imperatives continue to develop later in the volume. For now, focus on direct object pronouns with a conjugated verb and correct participle agreement.

Everything else in this chapter — sequencing connectors, prima di + infinitive, the interruption pattern, and the internal formation of the imperfetto and passato prossimo — is recycled exactly as taught in Volume I and Chapters 1–5. No other new grammar system is introduced here.

Model Dialogue

Setting: The morning after the meeting, Marco, Paolo, and Rita sit at the corner bar with a notebook, dividing the festival tasks.

Rita Allora, le sedie. Chi se ne occupa? Al-LO-ra, leh SEH-dyeh. Kee seh neh ok-KOO-pa? So, the chairs. Who's taking care of them?

Paolo Le prendo io. Le ho già prese in prestito da mio cugino il mese scorso, per un'altra festa. Leh PREN-do EE-o. Leh o JA PREH-zeh een PRES-tee-to da MEE-o KOO-jee-no eel MEH-zeh SKOR-so, per oon-AL-tra FES-ta. I'll get them. I already borrowed them from my cousin last month, for another party.

Rita Perfetto. E i tavoli? Li porti anche tu? Per-FET-to. Eh ee TA-vo-lee? Lee POR-tee AN-keh too? Perfect. And the tables? Are you bringing those too?

Paolo No, quelli no. Li porta Marco, vero? No, KWEL-lee no. Lee POR-ta MAR-ko, VEH-ro? No, not those. Marco's bringing them, right?

Marco Sì, li porto io. E la musica? Rita, la scegli tu? See, lee POR-to EE-o. Eh la MOO-zee-ka? REE-ta, la SHEL-jee too? Yes, I'll bring them. And the music? Rita, are you choosing it?

Rita La scelgo io, ma prima devo parlare con un DJ che conosco. Nel frattempo, chi parla con i negozianti della strada? La SHEL-go EE-o, ma PREE-ma DEH-vo par-LA-reh kon oon dee-JEI keh ko-NOS-ko. Nel frat-TEM-po, kee PAR-la kon ee neh-go-TSYAN-tee DEL-la STRA-da? I'll choose it, but first I need to talk to a DJ I know. Meanwhile, who's talking to the shop owners on the street?

Marco Li chiamo io oggi pomeriggio. Li conosco quasi tutti. Lee kya-MO EE-o OJ-jee po-meh-REEJ-jo. Lee ko-NOS-ko KWA-zee TOOT-tee. I'll call them this afternoon. I know almost all of them.

Rita E le decorazioni? Le facciamo insieme, un giorno prima della festa? Eh leh deh-ko-ra-TSYO-nee? Leh fach-CHA-mo een-SYEH-meh, oon JOR-no PREE-ma DEL-la FES-ta? And the decorations? Should we make them together, one day before the festival?

Paolo Perfetto. Allora, ci penso io per le sedie, Marco per i tavoli e i negozianti, tu per la musica. Le decorazioni, alla fine, insieme. Per-FET-to. Al-LO-ra, chee PEN-so EE-o per leh SEH-dyeh, MAR-ko per ee TA-vo-lee eh ee neh-go-TSYAN-tee, too per la MOO-zee-ka. Leh deh-ko-ra-TSYO-nee, AL-la FEE-neh, een-SYEH-meh. Perfect. So, I'll take care of the chairs, Marco the tables and the shop owners, you the music. The decorations, in the end, together.

Domande di comprensione — Comprehension questions:

Who is taking care of the chairs, and had that person borrowed them before?
What does Rita need to do before she can choose the music?
Find one direct object pronoun in the dialogue and say what it replaces.

Guided Practice

Esercizio 1 — Replace the underlined noun with the correct direct object pronoun (lo, la, li, le):

Paolo prende le sedie. → Paolo ______ prende.
Marco porta i tavoli. → Marco ______ porta.
Rita sceglie la musica. → Rita ______ sceglie.
Marco chiama i negozianti. → Marco ______ chiama.

Esercizio 2 — Complete each sentence with the correct past participle, making it agree with the pronoun:

Le sedie? Paolo le ha già _______ (preso) in prestito il mese scorso.
La musica? Rita l'ha _______ (scelto) stamattina.
I tavoli? Li ha _______ (portato) Marco.
Le decorazioni? Le abbiamo _______ (fatto) insieme.

Esercizio 3 — Identify the error and correct it:

Prendo lo domani. →
Le sedie? Paolo le ha preso ieri. →

Listening Practice

Ask an instructor, study partner, or fluent Italian speaker to read the passage below aloud, at a natural pace, twice.

If no speakers are available, this is a Listening Script for Independent Use. Read it aloud yourself, slowly at first, then at a more natural pace. Any spoken model should be verified by a fluent Italian speaker before being treated as a pronunciation standard.

Chi porta cosa? — Who's bringing what?:
"La mattina dopo la riunione, Marco, Paolo e Rita si sono seduti al bar per dividersi i compiti. Prima hanno parlato delle sedie: Paolo le ha prese in prestito da suo cugino, che le aveva già usate per un'altra festa. Poi hanno parlato dei tavoli, e Marco ha detto che li porta lui. Nel frattempo, Rita ha spiegato che deve parlare con un DJ prima di scegliere la musica. A un certo punto, Marco si è offerto di chiamare i negozianti della strada: li conosce quasi tutti. Alla fine, hanno deciso di fare le decorazioni insieme, un giorno prima della festa. Quando sono usciti dal bar, la lista era completa."

Compito di ascolto — Listening task:

Question	Answer
Where had Paolo already borrowed the chairs from?	______
What does Rita need to do before choosing the music?	______
Who is calling the shop owners, and why is that person a good choice?	______

Speaking Practice

Pratica controllata — Controlled practice: who's taking care of what?

With a partner, take turns asking and answering Chi si occupa di...? about each item on the festival list, answering with a direct object pronoun each time instead of repeating the noun.

Compito comunicativo — Communicative task: dividing a shared project

In pairs or small groups, plan a shared event or project of your own — a party, a class project, a household task list — and divide the responsibilities. Refer back to each item using a direct object pronoun at least four times, and use at least one sequencing connector from Chapter 5. Your partner should ask at least one follow-up question about who is doing what and when.

Pratica da solo — Solo alternative

Record yourself dividing a list of tasks among imagined people, checking that each direct object pronoun is placed correctly and that participles agree where needed.

Reading Practice

Read the message below aloud, sounding out each Italian word slowly.

Un messaggio di Paolo al gruppo del quartiere — A message from Paolo to the neighborhood group

Ciao a tutti! Vi scrivo per confermare i compiti della festa. Le sedie: le ho già prese in prestito da mio cugino, quindi quelle sono a posto. I tavoli li porta Marco, e lui si occupa anche dei negozianti della strada — li chiama questo pomeriggio. Rita si occupa della musica, ma prima deve parlare con un DJ che conosce. Le decorazioni le facciamo tutti insieme, un giorno prima della festa. Se qualcuno ha altre idee, ci pensiamo insieme alla prossima riunione. A presto, Paolo

Hi everyone! I'm writing to confirm the festival tasks. The chairs: I've already borrowed them from my cousin, so those are taken care of. Marco is bringing the tables, and he's also taking care of the shop owners on the street — he's calling them this afternoon. Rita is taking care of the music, but first she needs to talk to a DJ she knows. We're making the decorations all together, one day before the festival. If anyone has other ideas, we'll think about it together at the next meeting. See you soon, Paolo

Domande di comprensione — Comprehension questions:

Who is bringing the tables, and what else is that person doing?
What does Rita still need to do before choosing the music?
Find one direct object pronoun in the message and say what it replaces.

Writing Workshop

Write a connected paragraph dividing tasks for an event or project of your own, the way Paolo's message does.

Compito di scrittura — Writing task: Write eight to ten sentences. Include: at least four direct object pronouns referring back to already-named items or people, at least one past participle that agrees with a preceding direct object pronoun, at least one sequencing connector from Chapter 5, and a natural closing.

Introduce the project. Name the event or project and list two or three tasks.
Assign the first task. Name who is responsible, then refer back to it later using a direct object pronoun.
Assign the remaining tasks. Use poi or nel frattempo to move between them, referring back to items with pronouns rather than repeating nouns.
Mention something already completed. Use the passato prossimo with a direct object pronoun, making the participle agree.
Add a closing. End with a simple closing appropriate to your chosen audience.

Lista di controllo — Editing checklist:

Each direct object pronoun is placed directly before the conjugated verb.
The past participle agrees with any direct object pronoun that precedes avere in the passato prossimo.
No direct object pronoun is placed after its verb.
Sequencing connectors and prima di + infinitive are used correctly where relevant.
Accents, apostrophes, and capitalization follow standard Italian spelling.

Culture and Communication

Culture in Context — informal division of labor

Community events organized among neighbors are often planned through informal, spoken agreements at a bar, in someone's home, or over a phone call, rather than through a written contract or formal assignment. Responsibilities are frequently accepted with a simple phrase like ci penso io rather than a long explanation, though the level of informality varies by neighborhood, generation, and the scale of the event.

Culture in Context — borrowing among neighbors and family

Borrowing practical items such as chairs, tables, or equipment from relatives or neighbors for a shared event is common in many communities, reflecting networks of mutual help rather than commercial rental. This pattern is not universal, and formal rental services are also widely used, especially for larger or more formal events.

Common Mistakes

Common Mistake — placing the object pronoun after the verb

Error: Writing Prendo lo domani, following English object placement.

Correction: The direct object pronoun goes before the conjugated verb: Lo prendo domani.

Common Mistake — forgetting participle agreement with a preceding pronoun

Error: Writing Le sedie? Paolo le ha preso ieri, leaving the participle in its base form.

Correction: When a direct object pronoun comes before avere, the participle must agree: Le sedie? Paolo le ha prese ieri.

Common Mistake — applying agreement when the object is a named noun, not a pronoun

Error: Writing Paolo ha presa le sedie, applying agreement to a participle that follows a named noun rather than a preceding pronoun.

Correction: The participle stays in its base form when the object is a named noun rather than a preceding pronoun: Paolo ha preso le sedie. Agreement applies only when a direct object pronoun comes before the verb.

Chapter Summary

In this chapter you were introduced to direct object pronouns — lo, la, li, and le — for referring back to people and things already mentioned, without repeating full nouns. You learned to place these pronouns directly before a conjugated verb and to make the past participle agree with them in the passato prossimo. You practiced this by dividing festival tasks among Marco, Paolo, and Rita and applied it to a shared project of your own. Everything else — sequencing connectors, prima di + infinitive, the interruption pattern, and tense formation — is recycled directly from Volume I and Chapters 1–5.

Chapter Review

Parte A — Comprensione (Comprehension)

1. Return to the model dialogue and answer in English:

Who is taking care of the chairs, and where had that person already borrowed them from?
What does Rita need to do before choosing the music?

Parte B — Grammatica (Grammar)

1. Replace the underlined noun with a direct object pronoun: Marco porta i tavoli. →

2. Complete with the correctly agreeing participle: Le sedie? Paolo le ha già _______ (preso) in prestito.

3. Correct the error: Prendo lo domani. →

Parte C — Lettura (Reading)

1. Return to Paolo's message and answer:

Who is bringing the tables, and what else is that person doing?
Find the sentence where a direct object pronoun replaces i negozianti.

Parte D — Scrittura (Writing)

1. Write a connected paragraph following the writing workshop steps above.

Parte E — Parlato (Speaking)

1. With a partner or recorded solo, divide a set of tasks using at least four direct object pronouns.

Practical Performance Task

Chapter 6 Performance Task — Chi Porta Cosa?

Divide a Set of Tasks

Complete the following four connected tasks in order.

Listen to the passage about dividing the festival tasks and complete the listening table.
Read Paolo's message to the neighborhood group and answer the comprehension questions.
Write a connected paragraph dividing tasks for a project of your own, following the writing workshop steps.
Speak by dividing the same tasks with a partner or recording a solo narration, using direct object pronouns correctly.

Criterion	What is assessed
Pronoun selection	The learner chooses the correct direct object pronoun (lo, la, li, le) for the noun it replaces.
Pronoun placement	The learner places the direct object pronoun before the conjugated verb.
Participle agreement	The learner correctly makes the past participle agree with a preceding direct object pronoun in the passato prossimo.
Retained systems	The learner correctly uses at least one sequencing connector or prima di + infinitive from Chapter 5.
Task organization	The learner clearly divides responsibility for each item on the list.

This task assesses the direct object pronoun system activated in this chapter. It does not require indirect object pronouns, combined pronouns, or pronoun placement with infinitives or imperatives.

Answer Key

Model Dialogue — Comprehension

Paolo is taking care of the chairs; he had already borrowed them from his cousin last month, for another party.
She needs to talk to a DJ she knows before choosing the music.
Sample: "Li porto io" — "li" refers back to "i tavoli" mentioned earlier in the conversation.

Guided Practice

Esercizio 1: (1) le (2) li (3) la (4) li

Esercizio 2: (1) prese (2) scelta (3) portati (4) fatte

Esercizio 3: (1) Error: object pronoun placed after the verb. Correction: Lo prendo domani. (2) Error: participle does not agree with the preceding pronoun "le." Correction: Le sedie? Paolo le ha prese ieri.

Listening

Paolo had already borrowed the chairs from his cousin, for another party.
Rita needs to talk to a DJ she knows before choosing the music.
Marco is calling the shop owners, because he knows almost all of them.

Reading — Comprehension

Marco is bringing the tables and is also taking care of calling the shop owners.
She still needs to talk to a DJ she knows.
Sample: "li chiama questo pomeriggio" — "li" replaces "i negozianti della strada."

Chapter Review — Parte B

Marco li porta.
prese
Lo prendo domani.

Looking Ahead

Cosa sai fare ora — What you can do now

You can now refer back to people and things already mentioned using direct object pronouns, placing them correctly before the verb and making past participles agree with them in the passato prossimo. Combined with the sequencing and narration tools from Chapter 5, you can now organize and discuss a shared project across several stages without repeating yourself.

Andando avanti: Capitolo 7 — Continuing on: Chapter 7

Chapter 7 follows Marco, Paolo, and Rita as the festival preparations run into a scheduling problem, introducing indirect object pronouns so learners can distinguish giving or saying something to someone from acting directly on a thing.