And we’re back with our grammar lesson. Today we are going to look at specific expressions, in particular the difference in use between anche io and anche a me and anche tu and anche a te. Let’s go! I have to take first a step back and take a look at what io, tu, me and te are. Both io and me refer to the pronoun “I.” Io is the English equivalent of “I” and me (pronounced “m-eh”) is the equivalent of “me.”

So io is used as the subject, which means the “I” is the one undertaking the action, for example, and me is the object. Tu and te both refer to “you,” however it’s a bit more difficult showing you the difference between tu and te, because in English you’d use “you” in both cases, since the subject and object form is the same.

But let me give you an example of what I mean for subject and object. I go to the store. “I” is the subject, because “I” is what goes to the store. She goes to the store with me. “Me” is the object because the one who “goes” is “she.” Sometimes it is easy to spot the object because it is introduced by a preposition, like to, with, from, just like in the previous example (with). Other times it’s not as easy, for example in the sentence: He likes me. “Me” is still the object because the one doing the action is “he.”

Now, this is important in order to understand the difference between anche io and anche a me, you need to understand whether you are doing the action or not. Anche io is used when “I” is the one doing the action. For example: − I worked hard yesterday. – Me too.; − Ieri ho lavorato sodo. – Anche io. − I am going to the US this summer. – Oh, really? Me too!; − Quest’estate vado negli Stati Uniti. – Davvero? Anche io! Anche io is like saying “I did it too/I will do it too/I do it too.” You can also use the contracted form anch’io: this is common especially when speaking, because it’s easier to say, but you can also see it in writing since it’s used a lot orally. The “subject” rule applies to anche tu as well: − You did a really good job today. – Thank you, you too!; − Hai fatto proprio un buon lavoro oggi. −Grazie, anche tu! Tu is the subject, as in “you did a good job as well,” therefore the answer uses the tu.

Me is used when the “I” is the object. The one that gives more trouble to English speakers is when the object is a me – “to me. As we said many times, verbs work differently in Italian and English, simply because they are different languages, so there are some verbs that in Italian require the preposition a – “to” − that English don’t. Or some times you cannot simply say the same thing in the same exact way, for example “to like.” In Italian, it’s piacere; it’s like we say that “something is pleasing to us,” rather than simply “like.” This means that if I say: Mi piace quella serie TV. “I like that TV series.” you should answer anche a me. Why? Because it is “piace a me” – as if I were saying “it is pleasing to me” – I am not the one doing the action, but I am the receiving one.” In this case the answer will be anche a me, so you’ll need to add the “to” after the anche, because the Italian verb requires the a, which means you must add it in you answer. Mi ha fatto piacere rivederti – It was nice seeing you again: this too is “far piacere a me” so you should answer anche a me. −Per il compleanno i miei amici mi hanno comprato dei fiori. – Che coincidenza! Anche a me! −My friends bought me flowers for my birthday. −What a coincidence! Me too! Il capo ti ha mandato un’e-mail? – Sì, l’ha mandata anche a te? And the same goes for “you” – Did the boss sent you an email? −Yes, did she sent one to you too? As you can see, a lot of times you will have a mi or ti before the verb which indicates the a me or a te, like in mi piace, mi hanno regalato, and ti ha mandato. Since Italian often leaves out the subject, you need to be careful not to mistake that mi – to me –for a io – I or the ti – to you – for a simple “you.”

Watch out though, the answer is not always anche a me, but it could also be anche me. For example: −Mi ha chiamata lo zio per dire di andarlo a trovare. – Ha chiamato anche me. – Uncle called me to tell us to go visit him. – He called me as well. As you can see it’s not anche a me, but only anche me without the a. This is because it is not chiamare a qualcuno – to call to someone – but simply chiamare qualcuno, without any preposition. − Oggi il prof mi ha interrogato a scuola. – Ha interrogato anche me. – Today, the professor tested me. – He tested me too. Remember that if the verb does not require any preposition, then the anche is not followed by a preposition.

I really hope this will make it a bit more clear for you, and you’ll feel a bit more comfortable saying me too!