{"id":59826,"date":"2026-05-13T04:30:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T19:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/?p=59826"},"modified":"2026-05-13T06:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T21:23:11","slug":"italian-costui-colui-coloro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/italian-costui-colui-coloro\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian Costui, Colui, Coloro: The Literary Demonstratives Still in Use (C1)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\ud83d\udd0d <strong>In short.<\/strong> Open a page of Manzoni, a canto of Dante, an article of the Italian Constitution, or a contemporary editorial in <em>la Repubblica<\/em>, and you&#8217;ll meet a small family of pronouns that English speakers rarely learn: <strong>italian costui colui<\/strong>, with their siblings <em>costei, colei, costoro, coloro<\/em>. They all mean &#8220;this person&#8221; or &#8220;that person&#8221;, they all refer to human beings only, and they all belong to formal or literary Italian. Two of them are still very much alive: <em>coloro<\/em> in the construction <em>coloro che&#8230;<\/em> (&#8220;those who&#8221;), and <em>costui<\/em> in its modern pejorative deictic use (&#8220;just who does this guy think he is?&#8221;). This guide explains the forms, where they survive in modern Italian, how Dante and Manzoni used them, and why a C1 reader needs to recognise them on sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" \/>\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-toc-cc\"><div class=\"gb-inside-container\">\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-toc-cc-t gb-headline-text\">Cosa impareremo oggi<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\ud83d\udc46\ud83c\udffb Jump to section<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" \/>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#one-liner\">The one-liner rule for italian costui colui<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#forms\">The forms: costui \/ colui, costei \/ colei, costoro \/ coloro<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#coloro-che\">Coloro che&#8230; la costruzione relativa che sopravvive<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#pejorative\">Costui pejorativo: l&#8217;uso deittico moderno<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#literature\">Colui e costui nella letteratura italiana<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#formal\">Where they survive today: legal, bureaucratic, public discourse<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#traps\">Five traps for English speakers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#cheat-sheet\">Cheat sheet<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#dialogue\">Dialogo al circolo letterario di Padova<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#mini-challenge\">Mini-challenge<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#faq\">Frequently asked questions<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#related\">Related guides<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#quiz\">Quiz<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-h2-oneliner-cc gb-headline-text\" id=\"one-liner\">The one-liner rule for italian costui colui<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Use <em>coloro<\/em> and <em>colui\/colei<\/em> when you write formal Italian and need a relative construction (&#8220;those who&#8221;, &#8220;he who&#8221;). Recognise <em>costui<\/em> in modern spoken Italian as a pejorative pointer (&#8220;just who does this guy think he is?&#8221;). Everything else in the family is literary, archaic, or restricted to legal and bureaucratic registers. <em>Quello<\/em>, <em>quella<\/em>, and <em>lui<\/em>, <em>lei<\/em> cover the everyday work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-h2-forms-cc gb-headline-text\" id=\"forms\">The forms: costui \/ colui, costei \/ colei, costoro \/ coloro<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The family has six members, organised on two axes: distance from the speaker (near vs far) and gender plus number. They all refer exclusively to human beings.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table>\n<thead><tr><th><\/th><th>Masculine<\/th><th>Feminine<\/th><th>Plural (both genders)<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr><td>Near the speaker (this person)<\/td><td>costui<\/td><td>costei<\/td><td>costoro<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Far from the speaker (that person)<\/td><td>colui<\/td><td>colei<\/td><td>coloro<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>The original distance opposition (near vs far) mirrors the standard <em>questo \/ quello<\/em> contrast. In practice, that distinction has largely faded in modern Italian. The forms that survive most strongly today are the ones with specific stylistic or syntactic jobs, not the neutral demonstrative role. You&#8217;ll meet <em>quello<\/em> and <em>lei<\/em> a hundred times for every one occurrence of <em>colei<\/em> in spontaneous speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Una breve nota di registro: <em>costui, colui, costoro, coloro<\/em> e le loro forme femminili appartengono all&#8217;italiano scritto formale e all&#8217;italiano letterario. Nei giornali compaiono soprattutto in articoli di cultura, editoriali, recensioni. Nei contratti e nei testi giuridici compaiono regolarmente. Nella conversazione quotidiana sono rari, con l&#8217;eccezione di <em>costui<\/em> usato in tono ironico o spregiativo, di cui parleremo pi\u00f9 avanti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-h2-coloro-che-cc gb-headline-text\" id=\"coloro-che\">Coloro che&#8230; la costruzione relativa che sopravvive<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The single most productive survivor of this family in modern Italian is the construction <em>coloro che&#8230;<\/em>, &#8220;those who&#8230;&#8221;. It corresponds to English &#8220;those who&#8221; or, in singular, &#8220;he who&#8221; \/ &#8220;she who&#8221;. The form is invariable in modern usage: <em>coloro che<\/em> covers both masculine and feminine plural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>La costruzione \u00e8 perfettamente viva in italiano scritto formale, soprattutto in contesti pubblici, giuridici, accademici. La si trova in avvisi, bandi, regolamenti, leggi, ma anche in articoli di opinione e nella saggistica. Ecco qualche esempio nei contesti dove ricorre pi\u00f9 spesso:<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Coloro che desiderano partecipare al concorso devono presentare la domanda entro venerd\u00ec. <em>Those who wish to participate in the competition must submit the application by Friday. (public notice)<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Tutti coloro che hanno conosciuto Caterina ricordano la sua generosit\u00e0. <em>All those who knew Caterina remember her generosity. (eulogy)<\/em><\/li>\n<li>La sentenza tutela coloro che hanno subito un danno ingiusto. <em>The ruling protects those who have suffered unjust harm. (legal text)<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Beati coloro che credono senza aver visto. <em>Blessed are those who believe without having seen. (Gospel, John 20:29 in the Italian translation)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<p>The singular <em>colui che<\/em> and <em>colei che<\/em> are rarer but still recognisable. They have a more formal, almost solemn ring, and often appear in literary or biographical prose. <em>Colui che parla \u00e8 l&#8217;autore stesso<\/em> (&#8220;the one who is speaking is the author himself&#8221;) is the kind of sentence you&#8217;d expect in a critical essay, not in a chat with friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Una curiosit\u00e0 interessante: la voce della Treccani sull&#8217;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.treccani.it\/enciclopedia\/colui_(Enciclopedia-Dantesca)\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Enciclopedia Dantesca<\/a> osserva che nella Divina Commedia <em>colui<\/em> compare ventisette volte, e in ventitr\u00e9 di queste \u00e8 seguito dal pronome relativo <em>che<\/em>: <em>colui che&#8230;<\/em>, ossia &#8220;colui il quale&#8221;. Il valore \u00e8 quello del pronome relativo indefinito <em>chi<\/em>, equivalente a &#8220;la persona che&#8221;. Dante usa la costruzione per riferirsi a personaggi storici, biblici, mitologici, con una solennit\u00e0 che il <em>quello che<\/em> moderno non riesce a riprodurre.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-task-cc-1\"><div class=\"gb-inside-container\">\n<p>\ud83c\udfaf <strong>Mini-task:<\/strong> Riscrivi le frasi sostituendo &#8220;le persone che&#8221; o &#8220;la persona che&#8221; con <em>coloro che<\/em>, <em>colui che<\/em> o <em>colei che<\/em> secondo il contesto formale.<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Le persone che hanno firmato la petizione sono pregate di lasciare un recapito.<\/li>\n<li>La persona che ha scoperto il documento preferisce restare anonima (autrice donna).<\/li>\n<li>Le persone che desiderano contestare la decisione possono ricorrere entro trenta giorni.<\/li>\n<li>La persona che parla con tanta autorit\u00e0 \u00e8 il direttore del museo (autore uomo).<\/li>\n<li>Le persone che hanno conosciuto Tommaso sanno quanto fosse generoso.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<details><summary><strong>\ud83d\udc49 See answers<\/strong><\/summary>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>1. <em><strong>Coloro che<\/strong> hanno firmato la petizione sono pregati di lasciare un recapito.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>2. <em><strong>Colei che<\/strong> ha scoperto il documento preferisce restare anonima.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>3. <em><strong>Coloro che<\/strong> desiderano contestare la decisione possono ricorrere entro trenta giorni.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>4. <em><strong>Colui che<\/strong> parla con tanta autorit\u00e0 \u00e8 il direttore del museo.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>5. <em>Tutti <strong>coloro che<\/strong> hanno conosciuto Tommaso sanno quanto fosse generoso.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-h2-pejorative-cc gb-headline-text\" id=\"pejorative\">Costui pejorativo: l&#8217;uso deittico moderno<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The second survivor of the family in everyday Italian is <em>costui<\/em>, but with a twist. Modern spoken Italians use <em>costui<\/em> almost exclusively as a pejorative pointer: a way of referring to a present person with disdain, irritation, or barely-concealed sarcasm. It is the verbal equivalent of pointing at someone and rolling your eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Questo uso si chiama <em>deittico<\/em> perch\u00e9 indica una persona presente nella scena, anzich\u00e9 riferirsi a qualcuno gi\u00e0 menzionato. Il tono \u00e8 quasi sempre negativo. Quando un italiano dice &#8220;costui&#8221; guardando una persona, sta segnalando fastidio, distanza, talvolta superiorit\u00e0 ironica. Si trova nei dialoghi di film, in articoli polemici, nei post sui social, e capita anche nella conversazione quotidiana fra amici quando si commenta il comportamento di un terzo.<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ma chi si crede di essere costui per darmi lezioni? <em>Just who does this guy think he is, lecturing me?<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Costei pretende di aver scritto il romanzo da sola, ma tutti sanno che l&#8217;editor ha fatto met\u00e0 del lavoro. <em>This woman claims she wrote the novel alone, but everyone knows the editor did half the work.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Senti, di costui non mi fido nemmeno un po&#8217;. <em>Listen, I don&#8217;t trust this guy one bit.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Costoro vorrebbero spiegarci la nostra storia. <em>These people would like to explain our own history to us.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<p>The pejorative reading is not automatic. Context, tone, and the surrounding adjectives carry the disdain. <em>Costui<\/em> in a neutral relative-clause context (<em>costui che hai visto ieri al bar<\/em>) is just a formal way of saying &#8220;this person&#8221;. It&#8217;s the use without an antecedent, pointing directly at someone, that turns the form into a verbal sneer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-h2-literature-cc gb-headline-text\" id=\"literature\">Colui e costui nella letteratura italiana<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you ever sit down with Dante, Boccaccio, Manzoni, or any other classic of Italian literature, you will meet <em>colui, costui, colei, costei, coloro<\/em> on every other page. Learning to recognise them is part of reading Italian literature in the original.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Il caso pi\u00f9 famoso \u00e8 probabilmente quello di Dante. Nel canto III dell&#8217;<em>Inferno<\/em>, fra gli ignavi che corrono dietro a un&#8217;insegna senza colore, il poeta riconosce <em>&#8220;l&#8217;ombra di colui che fece per viltade il gran rifiuto&#8221;<\/em>. La perifrasi indica Celestino V, il papa che abdic\u00f2 pochi mesi dopo l&#8217;elezione, e Dante sceglie deliberatamente <em>colui<\/em> al posto del nome per dare al gesto di rifiuto un peso solenne, quasi monumentale. Sostituire <em>colui che<\/em> con <em>quello che<\/em> avrebbe disinnescato l&#8217;effetto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Manzoni, nei <em>Promessi Sposi<\/em>, fa un uso costante delle forme femminili. Quando introduce Lucia per la prima volta nel capitolo II usa <em>costei<\/em> per dare il tono di una presentazione formale, quasi processuale: <em>&#8220;costei era una giovane&#8230;&#8221;.<\/em> Lo stesso Manzoni alterna <em>costui<\/em>, <em>colui<\/em>, <em>quello<\/em> a seconda del registro della scena: la conversazione popolare riceve <em>quello<\/em>, la riflessione del narratore riceve <em>colui<\/em> o <em>costui<\/em>. Questa alternanza \u00e8 uno dei modi con cui il romanzo costruisce la sua voce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anche autori novecenteschi e contemporanei usano queste forme nei dialoghi quando vogliono dare al personaggio una voce libresca, formale o pomposa. Riconoscere il segnale di registro \u00e8 uno strumento di lettura, non solo di grammatica: l&#8217;autore che mette <em>costui<\/em> in bocca a un personaggio sta caratterizzando, non solo descrivendo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-h2-formal-cc gb-headline-text\" id=\"formal\">Where they survive today: legal, bureaucratic, public discourse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Outside literature and informal pejorative use, the family lives on in legal Italian, bureaucratic notices, and formal public discourse. Read any law, contract, or official decree and you will find <em>coloro che<\/em>, <em>colui che<\/em>, sometimes <em>costoro<\/em> as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gli articoli della Costituzione italiana, per esempio, fanno largo uso di <em>coloro che<\/em> per generalizzare. La stessa cosa accade nei bandi di concorso, nei regolamenti universitari, nelle sentenze. La ragione \u00e8 semplice: <em>coloro che<\/em> introduce una categoria astratta di persone con una solennit\u00e0 che <em>le persone che<\/em> o <em>quelli che<\/em> non hanno. \u00c8 un segnale di registro che ogni italiano colto riconosce immediatamente come &#8220;formale&#8221;, &#8220;ufficiale&#8221;, &#8220;istituzionale&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Coloro che ricoprono cariche pubbliche hanno il dovere di adempierle con disciplina ed onore. <em>Those who hold public office have the duty to fulfil them with discipline and honour. (echo of Constitutional language)<\/em><\/li>\n<li>L&#8217;universit\u00e0 concede borse di studio a coloro che abbiano conseguito una media superiore al ventotto. <em>The university awards scholarships to those who have achieved an average above twenty-eight.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Sono ammessi alla prova orale soltanto coloro che hanno superato lo scritto. <em>Only those who have passed the written test are admitted to the oral exam.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-h2-traps-cc gb-headline-text\" id=\"traps\">Five traps for English speakers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"trap-1\">Trap 1: Reading costui as a neutral &#8220;this person&#8221;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In modern spoken Italian, <em>costui<\/em> almost always carries a pejorative ring when used to point at a present person. If a friend says <em>chi \u00e8 costui?<\/em> looking at someone across the room, they are not asking neutrally. The construction signals distance and often irritation. Don&#8217;t import the form into your own conversational Italian unless you intend that flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"trap-2\">Trap 2: Using colui in everyday speech<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You will see <em>colui<\/em> in printed Italian, especially in literary, legal, or essayistic contexts. You will almost never hear it in spontaneous conversation. Reaching for <em>colui<\/em> in a chat with friends would sound like reading aloud from a nineteenth-century novel. Stick with <em>quello, lui<\/em> for everyday speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"trap-3\">Trap 3: Forgetting that coloro covers both genders<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Italian plural forms often distinguish masculine and feminine, but the family <em>costoro \/ coloro<\/em> does not. Both forms are invariable for gender in the plural: <em>coloro che<\/em> works for an all-male, all-female, or mixed group. Don&#8217;t try to invent a feminine plural; it doesn&#8217;t exist in standard usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"trap-4\">Trap 4: Translating &#8220;those who&#8221; mechanically<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>English &#8220;those who&#8221; can correspond to either <em>quelli che<\/em> (neutral) or <em>coloro che<\/em> (formal). The choice depends on register. A casual sentence (&#8220;those who arrived late missed the appetiser&#8221;) wants <em>quelli che<\/em>. A formal sentence (&#8220;those who have submitted the form will be contacted&#8221;) wants <em>coloro che<\/em>. Use <em>coloro<\/em> when the surrounding prose is formal; use <em>quelli<\/em> when it isn&#8217;t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"trap-5\">Trap 5: Missing the literary signal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When an Italian author drops <em>colui<\/em> or <em>costei<\/em> into a sentence, they are not being careless. They are marking the prose as formal, solemn, or ironic depending on context. Read the form as a signal: pay attention to what the author is doing with it. This is one of the small skills that separates a B2 reader from a C1 reader of Italian literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-h2-cheat-cc gb-headline-text\" id=\"cheat-sheet\">Cheat sheet: italian costui colui at a glance<\/h2>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table>\n<thead><tr><th>Form<\/th><th>Gender \/ number<\/th><th>Living modern use<\/th><th>Italian example<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr><td>costui<\/td><td>masc. sg.<\/td><td>pejorative deictic<\/td><td>Ma chi si crede di essere costui?<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>costei<\/td><td>fem. sg.<\/td><td>pejorative deictic (rarer)<\/td><td>Costei dovrebbe pensare ai fatti propri.<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>costoro<\/td><td>m\/f pl.<\/td><td>formal narrative, occasional pejorative<\/td><td>Costoro vorrebbero insegnarci la storia.<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>colui che<\/td><td>masc. sg. + rel.<\/td><td>formal literary, solemn<\/td><td>Colui che ha firmato la petizione&#8230;<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>colei che<\/td><td>fem. sg. + rel.<\/td><td>formal literary<\/td><td>Colei che ha denunciato il fatto&#8230;<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>coloro che<\/td><td>m\/f pl. + rel.<\/td><td>very alive in legal, formal, public discourse<\/td><td>Coloro che desiderano partecipare&#8230;<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Default everyday<\/td><td><\/td><td>spoken Italian<\/td><td>quello \/ quella \/ lui \/ lei \/ loro<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-h2-dialogue-cc gb-headline-text\" id=\"dialogue\">Dialogo al circolo letterario di Padova<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Caterina \u00e8 scrittrice, Pietro critico letterario, Federica libraia. Si incontrano dopo una presentazione di un romanzo che ha diviso il pubblico. Nel dialogo Pietro lascia scappare un <em>costui<\/em> di troppo, e gli altri lo prendono in giro.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-dialog-cc\"><div class=\"gb-inside-container\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\ud83e\uddd4\ud83c\udffb <strong>Pietro:<\/strong> Allora? Cosa ne pensate del romanzo?<\/li>\n<li>\ud83d\udc69\ud83c\udffb <strong>Caterina:<\/strong> Mi ha lasciato perplessa. La trama c&#8217;\u00e8, ma manca qualcosa.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83e\uddd4\ud83c\udffb <strong>Pietro:<\/strong> Anche a me. E costui, l&#8217;autore, pretende pure di insegnarci come si scrive.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83d\udc69\ud83c\udffb <strong>Federica:<\/strong> &#8220;Costui&#8221;? Pietro, hai gi\u00e0 finito tre bicchieri di vino?<\/li>\n<li>\ud83e\uddd4\ud83c\udffb <strong>Pietro:<\/strong> Eh, mi \u00e8 scappato. Stasera mi sento Manzoni.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83d\udc69\ud83c\udffb <strong>Caterina:<\/strong> Per\u00f2 l&#8217;effetto funziona. &#8220;Costui&#8221; suona molto peggio di &#8220;quello l\u00ec&#8221;.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83e\uddd4\ud83c\udffb <strong>Pietro:<\/strong> Esatto. \u00c8 una parola che lascia un segno. Anche nei vecchi tribunali si diceva sempre &#8220;costui ha dichiarato che&#8230;&#8221;.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83d\udc69\ud83c\udffb <strong>Federica:<\/strong> S\u00ec, ma nei tribunali, non al circolo. Comunque, tornando al romanzo: secondo te il finale regge?<\/li>\n<li>\ud83e\uddd4\ud83c\udffb <strong>Pietro:<\/strong> Il finale \u00e8 la parte migliore. La protagonista che cammina sotto la pioggia, da sola, ricorda il finale di tanti romanzi degli anni Settanta.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83d\udc69\ud83c\udffb <strong>Caterina:<\/strong> S\u00ec, per\u00f2 \u00e8 quasi citazione. Coloro che hanno letto Calvino lo notano subito.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83d\udc69\ud83c\udffb <strong>Federica:<\/strong> Bel &#8220;coloro che&#8221;, anche questo. State entrambi in modalit\u00e0 saggistica stasera.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83e\uddd4\ud83c\udffb <strong>Pietro:<\/strong> Colpa della presentazione. Quando uno ascolta venti minuti di critica accademica, parla cos\u00ec per tre ore.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What to notice in the dialogue<\/h3>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>&#8220;E costui, l&#8217;autore, pretende pure di insegnarci come si scrive&#8221;<\/strong>: classic pejorative deictic. Pietro is annoyed at the author and reaches for <em>costui<\/em> to mark the distance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>&#8220;Costui&#8221;? Pietro, hai gi\u00e0 finito tre bicchieri di vino?<\/strong>: Federica notices the literary form and teases. Real Italians do exactly this: register-switching is something native speakers comment on openly.<\/li>\n<li><strong>&#8220;Stasera mi sento Manzoni&#8221;<\/strong>: Pietro&#8217;s self-aware defence. The form is associated with literary tradition in the speakers&#8217; minds.<\/li>\n<li><strong>&#8220;Coloro che hanno letto Calvino&#8221;<\/strong>: Caterina uses the formal relative construction without irony, almost without thinking. It&#8217;s the right register for a literary observation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>&#8220;Bel coloro che, anche questo&#8221;<\/strong>: Federica catches it and teases again. The dialogue makes the register choices explicit, which is realistic in a literary-circle setting.<\/li>\n<li>The whole family appears <strong>three times<\/strong> in twelve lines (<em>costui, costui, coloro che<\/em>), naturally clustered because the setting is literary and the topic is a novel. The speakers comment on the very forms they use.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-h2-mini-cc gb-headline-text\" id=\"mini-challenge\">Mini-challenge<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-task-cc-final\"><div class=\"gb-inside-container\">\n<p>\ud83c\udfaf <strong>Mini-challenge:<\/strong> Per ciascuna frase, scegli la forma giusta (<em>costui, colui che, coloro che, quello, lui<\/em>) in base al registro.<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Il bando si rivolge a __________ hanno conseguito la laurea entro lo scorso giugno. (registro formale, plurale)<\/li>\n<li>__________ ha appena parlato pretende di sapere tutto. (sgarbato, presente, maschile singolare)<\/li>\n<li>__________ \u00e8 il tuo nuovo collega? (registro colloquiale, presente, maschile singolare)<\/li>\n<li>__________ desidera ulteriori chiarimenti pu\u00f2 rivolgersi alla segreteria. (registro formale, singolare maschile)<\/li>\n<li>__________ era Pietro, te lo presento se vuoi. (registro colloquiale, lontano)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<details><summary><strong>\ud83d\udc49 See answers<\/strong><\/summary>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>1. <em><strong>coloro che<\/strong> hanno conseguito la laurea entro lo scorso giugno.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>2. <em><strong>Costui<\/strong> ha appena parlato pretende di sapere tutto.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>3. <em><strong>Lui<\/strong> \u00e8 il tuo nuovo collega? (or &#8220;<strong>Quello<\/strong> \u00e8 il tuo nuovo collega?&#8221;)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>4. <em><strong>Colui che<\/strong> desidera ulteriori chiarimenti pu\u00f2 rivolgersi alla segreteria.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>5. <em><strong>Quello<\/strong> era Pietro, te lo presento se vuoi.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-h2-quiz-cc gb-headline-text\" id=\"quiz\">Test your understanding<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:center;padding:30px;background:#f4f5f6;border-radius:10px;color:#888\"><em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-h2-faq-cc gb-headline-text\" id=\"faq\">Frequently asked questions about italian costui colui<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Queste sette domande coprono i dubbi pi\u00f9 frequenti di chi incontra <em>costui, colui, coloro<\/em> nella lettura di testi letterari o formali. Le voci della <a href=\"https:\/\/www.treccani.it\/enciclopedia\/colui_(Enciclopedia-Dantesca)\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Enciclopedia Dantesca<\/a> su <em>colui<\/em> e <a href=\"https:\/\/www.treccani.it\/enciclopedia\/costui_(Enciclopedia-Dantesca)\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">costui<\/a> offrono il riferimento accademico pi\u00f9 dettagliato.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"rank-math-faq\" class=\"rank-math-block\">\n<div class=\"rank-math-list \">\n<div id=\"faq-cc-q1\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \">What is the difference between costui and colui in Italian?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>In their original opposition, costui pointed to a person near the speaker (this person, this man) and colui pointed to a person far from the speaker (that person, that man). The distinction mirrored the standard questo \/ quello opposition. In modern Italian, the near vs far contrast has largely faded. Costui survives mainly in spoken Italian as a pejorative pointer to a present person (chi si crede di essere costui? = just who does this guy think he is?). Colui survives mainly in the formal relative construction colui che (he who, the one who), common in legal, literary, and academic writing.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-cc-q2\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \">Why does costui sometimes sound rude or sarcastic?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>Modern spoken Italian uses costui almost exclusively as a deictic pejorative: pointing at a present person with disdain or irritation. The form is rare enough in conversation that reaching for it signals a deliberate choice, and the choice is almost always negative. Saying chi \u00e8 costui? while looking at someone across the room marks distance, sometimes contempt. The same form in a written legal or literary text is neutral. Context and tone decide the colour.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-cc-q3\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \">What does coloro che mean and is it still used?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>Coloro che means those who and is the most productive survivor of the family in modern Italian. It appears constantly in legal texts, official notices, university regulations, public communications, and formal essays. The Italian Constitution uses it freely, scholarship awards use it, exam announcements use it. The form is invariable for gender in the plural: coloro che works for all-male, all-female, or mixed groups. In a casual sentence you would use quelli che (those who); in a formal or institutional sentence you would use coloro che.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-cc-q4\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \">How do Dante and Manzoni use colui and costui?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>Dante uses colui constantly in the Divine Comedy, often in the construction colui che to refer with solemnity to historical, biblical, or mythological figures. The Treccani Enciclopedia Dantesca notes that in the Comedy colui appears twenty-seven times, twenty-three of which are followed by the relative pronoun che. The most famous example is the unnamed soul of colui che fece per viltade il gran rifiuto (Inferno III), generally identified as Pope Celestine V. Manzoni in I Promessi Sposi uses costui, costei, colui, colei and quello with deliberate alternation, signalling the register of each scene: formal narration receives colui or costui, popular conversation receives quello.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-cc-q5\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \">Are costei and colei used today?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>Sparingly. Costei appears occasionally in modern Italian writing, especially in journalism and essays, when the author wants to introduce a female figure with formal weight or with a touch of distance. Colei survives almost exclusively in the construction colei che (she who, the one who), common in formal and literary contexts. Both forms are immediately recognisable as marked: a reader registers them as belonging to a higher register. In everyday speech, lei and quella do the job.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-cc-q6\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \">What&#8217;s the difference between quello and colui or costui?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>Quello is the neutral, everyday demonstrative, used freely in spoken Italian and in writing of any register. Colui and costui are marked: they belong to formal Italian, literary tradition, legal and bureaucratic contexts, or (in the case of costui) the deictic pejorative. A native speaker hears the difference instantly. Saying quello che desidera pu\u00f2 uscire is a neutral school announcement; saying colui che desidera pu\u00f2 uscire shifts the same sentence into a formal, almost institutional register.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-cc-q7\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \">Can I use costui or colui in spoken Italian?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>Costui yes, but only with awareness of its pejorative force. If you point at someone and say chi \u00e8 costui? you are not asking neutrally. Colui no, except as a literary citation or a self-conscious joke. In ordinary conversation Italians do not use colui spontaneously. Stick with quello and lui for everyday speech, and reserve costui for the rare moments when you want to mark distance or irritation toward a present person. Coloro che, on the other hand, can appear in spoken Italian when the speaker is reading aloud from a formal text or paraphrasing legal language.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"related\">Related guides<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/italian-codesto-demonstrative\/\">&#8220;That of Yours&#8221;: Italian Codesto and the Third Demonstrative<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/italian-noialtri-voialtri\/\">Italian Noialtri and Voialtri: The &#8216;We Others&#8217; Pronouns Explained<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/italian-narrative-imperfect\/\">Italian Narrative Imperfect: Why Newspapers Say &#8216;Nasceva&#8217; Instead of &#8216;Nacque&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/italian-nonche-peraltro-viceversa\/\">Italian Formal Connectors: Nonch\u00e9, Peraltro, Viceversa Explained<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ud83d\udd0d In short. Open a page of Manzoni, a canto of Dante, an article of the Italian Constitution, or a contemporary editorial in la Repubblica, and you&#8217;ll meet a small family of pronouns that English speakers rarely learn: italian costui colui, with their siblings costei, colei, costoro, coloro. They all mean &#8220;this person&#8221; or &#8220;that &#8230; <a title=\"Italian Costui, Colui, Coloro: The Literary Demonstratives Still in Use (C1)\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/italian-costui-colui-coloro\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Italian Costui, Colui, Coloro: The Literary Demonstratives Still in Use (C1)\">Read more \u226b<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10020,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1867,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-c1","category-lingua","no-featured-image-padding","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10020"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59826"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59827,"href":"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59826\/revisions\/59827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dante-learning.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}