trovarle

Trovarle is the Italian infinitive form of trovare (to find) with the clitic pronoun le attached, meaning “to find them” when the object is feminine plural. It is not a separate verb but a morphological combination used to refer to feminine plural nouns or people previously mentioned in the discourse.

Usage and forms

The pronoun le in trovarle refers to feminine plural antecedents (for example le chiavi, le ragazze, le cose). Other gender-number combinations use different contracted forms: trovare lo (to find it), trovare la (to find her), trovare li (to find them, masculine or mixed). When a sentence includes a modal or auxiliary verb, the pronoun typically remains attached to the infinitive: Devo trovarle, Voglio trovarle, Non riesco a trovarle. The pronoun can also appear before the entire verb phrase in periphrastic constructions, depending on style and emphasis.

Examples

- Non riesco a trovarle. (I can’t manage to find them.)

- Devo trovarle prima di partire. (I must find them before leaving.)

- Vorrei trovarle subito. (I’d like to find them immediately.)

Notes

Trovarle specifically indicates feminine plural objects or persons; for masculine plural or mixed groups the form would be trovarli. The construction is common in spoken and written Italian and follows standard clitic pronoun placement rules with infinitives and modal verbs. Etymologically, it is the combination of trovare plus the direct object pronoun le, arising from the language’s clitic attachment conventions.