Lei (you formal), lei (she) and Italian Equivalents of Neuter English ‘it’

Lei (you formal), lei (she)

The most important thing to notice here is that when you use the formal lei (you) you are talking directly to the person in question, while when you use lei with the meaning of ‘she’ you are talking about a female subject in the third person. So, the difference between lei = ‘you’ and lei = ‘she’ only really becomes clear from the context. The formal pronoun Lei is usually written with a capital letter (but not necessarily).

Italian Equivalents of Neuter English ‘it’

There is no equivalent form for ‘it’ to refer to things. In this case Italian can use a demonstrative pronoun (questo “this”, quello “that”, etc. see Unit ) as a substitute for ‘it’ in subject position, but generally, it just lets the verb (lui and lei form) stand alone.