English / Italiano

Ci and ne

Ci and ne each replace a phrase introduced by a preposition. English uses a phrase such as “there”, “about it” or “of them”, or says nothing. The preposition determines which one you need: a phrase with a, in or su is replaced by ci, and a phrase with di or da is replaced by ne.

What each one replaces

ci

replaces a, in or su + something

A place: Vai a Roma? Sì, ci vado. (Yes, I’m going there.)
A thing after pensare a, credere a, riuscire a, contare su: Ci penso io. (I’ll take care of it.)
With essere it forms the existential construction: c’è (there is), ci sono (there are). Here ci does not replace a phrase.
It is also the pronoun “us”. Context tells them apart: Ci vede (he sees us), Ci va (he goes there).

ne

replaces di or da + something

A quantity of something: Quanti ne vuoi? Ne voglio tre. (How many do you want? I want three.)
A thing after parlare di, avere bisogno di, avere voglia di: Ne ho bisogno. (I need it.)
English can say just “I want three”. Italian cannot drop ne when a number or quantity stands alone.

Fixed expressions

In these, ci and ne no longer replace anything. Learn each one as a single unit.

Italian	Example	Meaning
volerci	Ci vuole un’ora.	It takes an hour.
metterci	Ci metto dieci minuti.	It takes me ten minutes.
farcela	Ce la faccio.	I can manage it.
avercela con qualcuno	Ce l’ho con lui.	I’m angry with him. I have something against him.
andarsene	Me ne vado.	I’m leaving.
non poterne più	Non ne posso più.	I can’t take it any more.
valerne la pena	Ne vale la pena.	It’s worth it.