Indirect object nouns and pronouns (i pronomi indiretti) answer the question to whom? or for whom? In English, the word "to" is sometimes omitted:

　　We gave a cookbook to Uncle John.

　　We gave Uncle John a cookbook.

　　In Italian, the preposition a is always used before an indirect object noun:

　　Ho regalato un libro di cucina allo zio Giovanni. (I gave a cookbook to Uncle John.)

　　Perché non regali un profumo alla mamma? (Why don't you give Mother some perfume?)

　　Puoi spiegare questa ricetta a Paolo? (Can you explain this recipe to Paul?)

　　Indirect object pronouns replace indirect object nouns. They are identical in form to direct object pronouns, except for the third-person forms gli, le, and loro. For all the forms, see below.

　　Le ho dato tre ricette. (I gave her three recipes.)

　　Ci offrono un caffè. (They offer us a cup of coffee.)

　　Parliamo loro domani. (We'll talk to them tomorrow.)

　　Similarly, indirect object pronouns attach to infinitives, which lose their final -e:

　　Non ho tempo di parlargli. (I have no time to talk to him.)

　　If the infinitive is preceded by a conjugated form of dovere, potere, or volere, the indirect object pronoun may also precede the conjugated verb:

　　Voglio parlargli./Gli voglio parlare. (I want to talk to him.)

　　Also note that le and gli are never elided before a verb beginning with a vowel or an h:

　　Le offro un caffè. (I offer her a cup of coffee.)

　　Gli hanno detto "Ciao!". (They said "Ciao!" to him.)

　　The table below provides a few common Italian verbs that are often used with indirect object nouns or pronouns.