Subject pronouns and the verb essere
Italian has six subject pronouns, but verbs are conjugated so distinctly that you'll usually drop the pronoun in everyday speech. Sono italiano is more natural than Io sono italiano — the sono already says 'I'. Pronouns come back for emphasis or contrast: Tu sei italiano, io no. = 'You're Italian, I'm not.'
The six pronouns
io = I. tu = you (one person, informal). lui = he. lei = she. noi = we. voi = you all (one form for everyone — formal and informal). loro = they. Italian has no separate 'it' as a subject — every noun is either masculine or feminine, so things use lui or lei in the rare cases you'd need a pronoun for them.
Essere — full conjugation
io sono = I am. tu sei = you are. lui è / lei è = he is / she is (note the grave accent: è with accent = 'is', e without = 'and'). noi siamo = we are. voi siete = you all are. loro sono = they are. Memorize as a chant: sono, sei, è, siamo, siete, sono. Yes — io sono and loro sono are the same word. Context (or a pronoun) clears it up.
Lei — the polite 'you'
When you're addressing one person formally — a stranger, a shopkeeper, your professor, anyone older or in authority — Italian uses Lei (capitalized in writing to distinguish it from lei = 'she'). The verb form matches 'she/he': Lei è italiano? = Are you Italian, sir? Same word for a man or a woman — the gender of Lei itself doesn't change. With friends and family, use tu instead.
Voi — one form for plural 'you'
Unlike Spanish (which has vosotros/ustedes) or French (vous/tu), Italian uses a single voi for any group you address — whether they're your best friends or strangers in a shop. There's no separate formal plural in modern usage. Voi siete italiani? works for both 'are you guys Italian?' and 'are you (formal) Italian?'
Dropping the pronoun
Because each verb form is unique, the subject pronoun is usually redundant. Italians say Sono Marco, not Io sono Marco. Sei stanco? not Tu sei stanco? Use the pronoun only for emphasis or to contrast: Lui è italiano, ma lei è francese. = He's Italian, but she's French. The one form where you do tend to keep the pronoun is lui/lei — without it, è alone could be ambiguous.
