Rule reminder
Italian offers three main referential cohesion strategies: (1) PRONOUNS (esso/essa/essi, lo/la/li/le) — compact, formal, best for recent clear referents; (2) DEMONSTRATIVES (questo/questa/questi, quello/quella) — more emphatic, can add evaluative tone; (3) SYNONYMY — adds descriptive content, used in journalism and academic writing. Choosing the wrong one disrupts register or clarity.
In formal Italian, which pronoun is now considered archaic and is rarely used in modern academic prose?