Ci with no place in sight
You already know ci as a stand-in for a place: Vai a Roma? – Sì, ci vado domani. It also appears where no place is involved: non ci credo, ci vuole tempo, ci metto un'ora, ci sento poco. This is called ci polivalente, the all-purpose ci.
Do not look for a single English equivalent, because there is none. Learn each group as a pattern with its own English translation: I don't believe it, it takes, I take, I can hear.
Position in the sentence is the same as for place: before the conjugated verb, or attached to the infinitive. Non ci posso credere and Non posso crederci are both right.
Ci with verbs taking a or su
Many verbs take a complement with a or su: credere a, pensare a, riuscire a, provare a, contare su. When you pick that complement up again, ci stands for it, just as it does for a place, except that now it stands for a thing or a situation.
English verbs take prepositions too (believe in, think about, count on), but English keeps the preposition and puts a pronoun after it: I don't believe in it, I'll think about it. Italian folds preposition and pronoun into one syllable and moves it in front of the verb.
Preposition plus thing becomes ci
The most common verbs
| Verb | With ci | English |
|---|---|---|
| credere a | Non ci credo. | I don't believe it. |
| pensare a | Ci penso io. | I'll take care of it. |
| riuscire a | Non ci riesco. | I can't manage it. |
| provare a | Ci provo domani. | I'll try tomorrow. |
| contare su | Ci puoi contare. | You can count on it. |
Dice che ha vinto la lotteria. – Non ci credo per niente.
He says he won the lottery. – I don't believe it for a second.
Chi compra il vino? – Ci penso io, non ti preoccupare.
Who's buying the wine? – I'll take care of it, don't worry.
Volerci: what is needed
Ci vuole and ci vogliono are impersonal: they say what a job requires, such as time, money or patience. The English match is clean: it takes. It takes time. It takes two hours. It takes patience.
Singular and plural
| Sentence | Why this form | English |
|---|---|---|
| Ci vuole tempo. | tempo: singular | It takes time. |
| Ci vogliono due ore. | due ore: plural | It takes two hours. |
| Ci è voluto un anno. | past tense with essere | It took a year. |
Con i bambini ci vuole molta pazienza.
It takes a lot of patience with children.
Da Roma a Napoli ci vogliono circa due ore.
It takes about two hours from Rome to Naples.
Metterci: how long I take
Metterci is personal. It is conjugated normally and says how much time a particular person spends on something. The ci stays the same, only the verb changes: ci metto, ci metti, ci mette. In the passato prossimo it is ci ho messo. English says this two ways, it takes me an hour or I take an hour; Italian only has the second shape, with the person as subject.
Quanto ci metti per arrivare in ufficio? – Ci metto un'ora.
How long does it take you to get to the office? – It takes me an hour.
Sei arrivato tardi. – Lo so, ci ho messo due ore per il traffico.
You arrived late. – I know, it took me two hours because of the traffic.
Sbrigati, ci metti sempre troppo a vestirti.
Hurry up, you always take far too long to get dressed.
Fixed expressions with ci
In some verbs ci has grown into the verb. It means nothing by itself, but it changes the meaning: sento means I hear, ci sento means I can hear. English marks the same difference with can. In farcela and avercela the fixed form is ce la.
Parla più forte, non ci sento.
Speak up, I can't hear.
Senza occhiali non ci vedo niente.
Without glasses I can't see a thing.
Riesci a portarlo su? – No, non ce la faccio da solo.
Can you carry it up? – No, I can't manage on my own.
Ce l'hai con me?
Are you angry with me?
E i soldi? – I soldi non c'entrano, è una questione di principio.
And the money? – The money has nothing to do with it, it's a matter of principle.
What English speakers miss
Two English habits cause most of the trouble here. English hides its pronoun in plain sight (I don't believe it, I'll think about it), so it feels as if there is nothing to translate and ci gets dropped. And the verb take in the sense of require splits into three Italian constructions.
English sentences that hide a ci
| English | Italian | Verb behind it |
|---|---|---|
| I don't believe it. | Non ci credo. | credere a |
| I'll take care of it. | Ci penso io. | pensare a |
| That has nothing to do with it. | Non c'entra niente. | entrarci |
| I have two of them. | Ne ho due. | quantity: ne, not ci |
Three ways of taking
it takes → ci vuole
Impersonal: time or things a task requires. English dummy it, Italian no subject pronoun at all.
Ci vogliono tre ore.
It takes three hours.
Per questa ricetta ci vogliono tre uova.
This recipe takes three eggs.
I take time → ci metto
A person spends time.
Ci metto venti minuti.
It takes me twenty minutes.
I need something → avere bisogno di
A person needs something for themselves: no ci.
Ho bisogno di una pausa.
I need a break.
