There are two words for “you” in Italian\u2014one formal and one informal. Read this post to learn when and how to use them correctly.<\/p>\n
[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n
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The Difference Between Lei <\/em>and Tu<\/em><\/h2>\nIn Italian, both Lei<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0tu<\/em> mean “you.”\u00a0<\/p>\nLei<\/em>, the formal form, is used when you’re talking to someone older or someone you don’t know well.\u00a0Tu<\/em>, the informal form, is used to talk to someone your own age or younger and people you know well.<\/p>\nIf you’re not sure which form to use, you use Lei.<\/em><\/p>\nHere are some examples:<\/p>\n
Lei<\/strong> parla italiano molto bene<\/em>. \u2014 You speak Italian very well [said to a stranger].<\/p>\nLei<\/strong> ha una grande esperienza nel settore<\/em>. \u2014 You have a great experience in the industry [said to an elder].<\/p>\nTu<\/strong> vuoi venire al cinema con me?<\/em> \u2014 Do you want to come to the movies with me? [said to a friend].<\/p>\nHere are the most common situations where you want to use\u00a0Lei<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n- In situations where you want to show respect<\/strong>. This means for work situations as well as speaking to strangers, authority figures and elders.<\/li>\n
- With<\/strong> people you’re meeting for the first time or don’t know very well,<\/strong> regardless of social or power status.<\/li>\n
- When you’re not sure,<\/strong> such as in a relationship where you might not be certain where you fall on the social ladder, so to speak.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Think of it this way: Using\u00a0Lei<\/em> when it’s not necessary might make you look a little stiff, but using informal tu<\/em> when you shouldn’t can be considered extremely rude.<\/p>\nThe Difference Between Lei<\/em> and lei<\/em><\/h3>\nSo far everything sounds pretty simple, right? Well, there’s one key wrinkle in that. That’s because Lei\u00a0<\/em>isn’t just the formal “you” in Italian\u2014it’s also the feminine third person pronoun:\u00a0lei\u00a0<\/em>(she).<\/p>\nThe way to tell them apart is that formal\u00a0Lei\u00a0<\/em>is almost always capitalized. The other\u00a0lei\u00a0<\/em>(she) is only capitalized when it’s the first word in a sentence.<\/p>\nThis capitalization isn’t a hard rule, however, and it doesn’t really help in spoken conversation or audio exercises. You can’t hear capitalization.<\/p>\n
But don’t worry: You can usually figure out the difference between Lei<\/em> and lei<\/em> in speech just by paying a little attention. Context is a big factor<\/strong> in understanding language, and it’ll help you understand the difference.<\/p>\nThere’s also the important distinction that “you” is second person and “she” is third person.<\/strong>\u00a0If someone’s speaking in a way that must be referring to a “she” rather than a “you,” you can figure it out from there.<\/p>\nHere’s an example of that concept:<\/p>\n
Ho parlato con mia nonna e lei<\/strong> sta bene.<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 <\/em>I spoke with my grandmother and she’s fine.<\/p>\nLei<\/strong> \u00e8 molto gentile, grazie.<\/em>\u00a0\u2014<\/em>\u00a0You’re very kind, thank you.<\/p>\nHow to Conjugate\u00a0Lei\u00a0<\/em><\/h2>\nWhile Lei<\/em> and lei<\/em> are completely different in use, their conjugations are actually identical.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t Leggere<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/th> To read<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n\n\t tu\u00a0leggi<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/td> you read [informal]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t voi leggete<\/i> <\/a>\n
\n<\/td> you all read <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t lui... lei... Lei\u00a0legge<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/td> he\/she\/you [formal] reads<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\t Mangiare<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/th> To eat<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n\n\t tu mangi<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/td> you eat [informal]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t voi mangiate<\/i> <\/a>\n
\n<\/td> you all eat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t lui... lei... Lei mangia<\/i> <\/a>\n
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\n<\/td> he\/she\/you [formal] eats<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\t Avere<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/th> To have<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n\n\t hai<\/i> <\/a>\n
\n<\/td> you have [informal]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t voi\u00a0avete<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/td> you all have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t lui... lei... Lei ha<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/td> he\/she\/you [formal] has<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\nHere are some examples to see the difference in action:<\/p>\n
Tu vai a casa?<\/em> \u2014<\/em> Are you going home? [informal]<\/p>\nLei va a casa?<\/em> \u2014<\/em> Are you going home? [formal]<\/p>\nVoi<\/em> andate a casa? \u2014\u00a0Are you (all) going home?<\/p>\n
Possessive Pronouns Tu<\/em> and Lei<\/em><\/h2>\nYou may be familiar with using possessive pronoun with tu<\/em>, which is\u00a0tua\u00a0<\/em>(yours):<\/p>\ntua madre<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 <\/em>your mother<\/p>\nla tua amica<\/em> \u2014 <\/em>your friend<\/p>\nWith\u00a0Lei, the<\/em> possessive pronouns becomes il suo<\/em>\u00a0or la sua,<\/em> depending on the gender of the noun they’re attached to. Note that the possessive form is also capitalized.<\/b><\/p>\nil Suo<\/em> \u2014 yours [masculine]<\/p>\nla Sua<\/em> \u2014 yours [feminine]<\/p>\nHere’s an example to compare the levels of formality:<\/p>\n
Quando ti<\/strong> incontri con la tua amica?<\/em> \u2014<\/em> When are you meeting your friend? [informal]<\/p>\nQuando (Lei)<\/strong> si incontra con la sua amica?<\/em> \u2014 When are you meeting with your friend? [formal]<\/p>\nPlural Lei<\/em>\u00a0and Voi<\/em><\/h2>\nLei<\/em> is also\u2014but rarely\u2014used as a plural formal “you,” conjugated as Loro.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nFor example:<\/p>\n
Al cinema, voi<\/strong> pagate per i biglietti<\/em>. \u2014 At the movies, you all pay for the tickets. [informal]<\/p>\nLoro<\/strong> vogliono accomodarsi?” <\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 Would you like to sit down? [formal]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Now that you know the building blocks of using the formal Italian “you,”\u00a0Lei,<\/em> be sure to work it into your study routine!<\/p>\nYou could try using an immersive language learning program like FluentU<\/a> to hear how Lei <\/em>is used in context by native speakers.<\/p>\nFluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n<\/p>\r\n
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n
Lei<\/em>, the formal form, is used when you’re talking to someone older or someone you don’t know well.\u00a0Tu<\/em>, the informal form, is used to talk to someone your own age or younger and people you know well.<\/p>\n If you’re not sure which form to use, you use Lei.<\/em><\/p>\n Here are some examples:<\/p>\n Lei<\/strong> parla italiano molto bene<\/em>. \u2014 You speak Italian very well [said to a stranger].<\/p>\n Lei<\/strong> ha una grande esperienza nel settore<\/em>. \u2014 You have a great experience in the industry [said to an elder].<\/p>\n Tu<\/strong> vuoi venire al cinema con me?<\/em> \u2014 Do you want to come to the movies with me? [said to a friend].<\/p>\n Here are the most common situations where you want to use\u00a0Lei<\/em>:<\/p>\n Think of it this way: Using\u00a0Lei<\/em> when it’s not necessary might make you look a little stiff, but using informal tu<\/em> when you shouldn’t can be considered extremely rude.<\/p>\n So far everything sounds pretty simple, right? Well, there’s one key wrinkle in that. That’s because Lei\u00a0<\/em>isn’t just the formal “you” in Italian\u2014it’s also the feminine third person pronoun:\u00a0lei\u00a0<\/em>(she).<\/p>\n The way to tell them apart is that formal\u00a0Lei\u00a0<\/em>is almost always capitalized. The other\u00a0lei\u00a0<\/em>(she) is only capitalized when it’s the first word in a sentence.<\/p>\n This capitalization isn’t a hard rule, however, and it doesn’t really help in spoken conversation or audio exercises. You can’t hear capitalization.<\/p>\n But don’t worry: You can usually figure out the difference between Lei<\/em> and lei<\/em> in speech just by paying a little attention. Context is a big factor<\/strong> in understanding language, and it’ll help you understand the difference.<\/p>\n There’s also the important distinction that “you” is second person and “she” is third person.<\/strong>\u00a0If someone’s speaking in a way that must be referring to a “she” rather than a “you,” you can figure it out from there.<\/p>\n Here’s an example of that concept:<\/p>\n Ho parlato con mia nonna e lei<\/strong> sta bene.<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 <\/em>I spoke with my grandmother and she’s fine.<\/p>\n Lei<\/strong> \u00e8 molto gentile, grazie.<\/em>\u00a0\u2014<\/em>\u00a0You’re very kind, thank you.<\/p>\n While Lei<\/em> and lei<\/em> are completely different in use, their conjugations are actually identical.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n Here are some examples to see the difference in action:<\/p>\n Tu vai a casa?<\/em> \u2014<\/em> Are you going home? [informal]<\/p>\n Lei va a casa?<\/em> \u2014<\/em> Are you going home? [formal]<\/p>\n Voi<\/em> andate a casa? \u2014\u00a0Are you (all) going home?<\/p>\n You may be familiar with using possessive pronoun with tu<\/em>, which is\u00a0tua\u00a0<\/em>(yours):<\/p>\n tua madre<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 <\/em>your mother<\/p>\n la tua amica<\/em> \u2014 <\/em>your friend<\/p>\n With\u00a0Lei, the<\/em> possessive pronouns becomes il suo<\/em>\u00a0or la sua,<\/em> depending on the gender of the noun they’re attached to. Note that the possessive form is also capitalized.<\/b><\/p>\n il Suo<\/em> \u2014 yours [masculine]<\/p>\n la Sua<\/em> \u2014 yours [feminine]<\/p>\n Here’s an example to compare the levels of formality:<\/p>\n Quando ti<\/strong> incontri con la tua amica?<\/em> \u2014<\/em> When are you meeting your friend? [informal]<\/p>\n Quando (Lei)<\/strong> si incontra con la sua amica?<\/em> \u2014 When are you meeting with your friend? [formal]<\/p>\n Lei<\/em> is also\u2014but rarely\u2014used as a plural formal “you,” conjugated as Loro.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n For example:<\/p>\n Al cinema, voi<\/strong> pagate per i biglietti<\/em>. \u2014 At the movies, you all pay for the tickets. [informal]<\/p>\n Loro<\/strong> vogliono accomodarsi?” <\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 Would you like to sit down? [formal]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now that you know the building blocks of using the formal Italian “you,”\u00a0Lei,<\/em> be sure to work it into your study routine!<\/p>\n You could try using an immersive language learning program like FluentU<\/a> to hear how Lei <\/em>is used in context by native speakers.<\/p>\n FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n\n
The Difference Between Lei<\/em> and lei<\/em><\/h3>\n
How to Conjugate\u00a0Lei\u00a0<\/em><\/h2>\n
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\n\t \n Leggere<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/th> To read<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n\t tu\u00a0leggi<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/td> you read [informal]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t voi leggete<\/i> <\/a>\n
\n<\/td>you all read <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t lui... lei... Lei\u00a0legge<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/td> he\/she\/you [formal] reads<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n \n\n
\n\t \n Mangiare<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/th> To eat<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n\t tu mangi<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/td> you eat [informal]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t voi mangiate<\/i> <\/a>\n
\n<\/td>you all eat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t lui... lei... Lei mangia<\/i> <\/a>\n
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\n<\/td>he\/she\/you [formal] eats<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n \n\n
\n\t \n Avere<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/th> To have<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n\t hai<\/i> <\/a>\n
\n<\/td>you have [informal]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t voi\u00a0avete<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/td> you all have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t lui... lei... Lei ha<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/td> he\/she\/you [formal] has<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n Possessive Pronouns Tu<\/em> and Lei<\/em><\/h2>\n
Plural Lei<\/em>\u00a0and Voi<\/em><\/h2>\n
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