controllarli

Controllarli is the Italian infinitive form of the verb controllare with the clitic pronoun li attached, meaning to control them. In Italian, attaching clitic pronouns to the infinitive creates a single word such as controllarli, controllarle, or mangiarli. This construction is common when the object pronoun refers to a masculine plural noun or a mixed group.

Formation and usage: The base verb controllare takes the pronoun li (masculine plural) when referring to a group of masculine nouns or mixed gender nouns. The form is used after modal verbs and other verbs that govern an infinitive, as in Voglio controllarli (I want to check them) or Devi controllarli (You must check them). In compound tenses, the pronoun typically precedes the auxiliary; the past participle agrees with the pronoun when the pronoun stands before the participle, e.g., Li ho controllati (I have checked them).

Usage notes: Controllarli is common in everyday Italian, particularly in contexts of supervision, auditing, or monitoring. The li pronoun can refer to people or things; if the objects are feminine, the corresponding form would be controllarle (feminine plural) or other feminine equivalents with le in place of li.

Context and related forms: Controllarli illustrates Italian clitic placement with infinitives. Related forms include controllarle (to control them, feminine) and similar constructions with other pronouns such as riceverli (to receive them) or vederli (to see them). See also Italian pronouns and clitic placement.