Italian Uses Possessive Pronouns Less Frequently Than English
Here is a quick tip on possessive pronouns to help you sound more fluent in Italian.
You’re likely familiar with the fact that in Italian, pronouns are often dropped because verb conjugation clearly indicates the subject. For instance, we say "Ho 44 anni" instead of "Io ho 44 anni" in most cases.
But did you know that Italians also tend to use possessive pronouns less frequently than English speakers?
Here are some examples:
✅ Ha dimenticato il telefono a casa
🆗 Ha dimenticato il suo telefono a casa
Meaning: He forgot his phone at home.
Literally: He forgot the phone at home.
✅ Togliti le scarpe
❌ Togliti le tue scarpe
Meaning: Take off your shoes.
Literally: Take off the shoes.
✅ Ho parcheggiato la macchina qui
🆗 Ho parcheggiato la mia macchina qui
Meaning: I parked my car here.
Literally: I parked the car here.
✅ Hai il quaderno?
🆗 Hai il tuo quaderno?
Meaning: Do you have your notebook?
Literally: Do you have the notebook?
✅ Mi sono lavato le mani
❌ Mi sono lavato le mie mani
Meaning: I washed my hands.
Literally: I washed the hands.
✅ Si è spazzolata i capelli
❌ Si è spazzolata i suoi capelli
Meaning: She brushed her hair.
Literally: She brushed the hair.
✅ Hanno preso le giacche
🆗 Hanno preso le loro giacche
Meaning: They took their jackets.
Literally: They took the jackets.
✅ Apri gli occhi!
🆗 Apri i tuoi occhi!
Meaning: Open your eyes!
Literally: Open the eyes!
✅ Mettiti il maglione
❌ Mettiti il tuo maglione
Meaning: Put on your sweater.
Literally: Put on the sweater.
✅ Dov'è la macchina?
🆗 Dov'è la tua macchina?
Meaning: Where is your car?
Literally: Where is the car?
By default, we prefer simplicity and rely on context to imply possession. It’s not strictly wrong to use possessive pronouns in the 🆗 examples, but the versions without sound more natural or are more common.
Possessive pronouns are still used to emphasize ownership, when there is ambiguity due to multiple subjects, or when there is confusion between the subject and the object.