B2 · The finish
The set phrases with ci and ne
Six of the commonest sentences in the language, and none of them can be taken apart.
A handful of the most frequent Italian sentences are built from ci or ne plus a verb, and together they mean something neither half says. Looking up the parts is how you end up with a translation that is word-perfect and wrong.
Ci vuole means « it takes »: ci vuole tempo, ci vogliono due ore. It follows the thing needed, which is why two hours make it vogliono.
Ce l'ho means « I have got it ». Ci becomes ce in front of another pronoun, and without the l' there is no sentence: to hai il biglietto? the answer is sì, ce l'ho, never sì, ho. English can answer with the bare verb — « Yes, I have » — and Italian cannot.
Non ne posso più is « I cannot go on », ci sto is « I am in », ci penso io is « I will see to it », non c'entra is « that has nothing to do with it ». All four are fixed, and all four are used constantly.
Die Form
| it takes time | ci vuole tempo |
| it takes two hours | ci vogliono due ore |
| I have got it | ce l’ho |
| I cannot go on | non ne posso più |
| I will see to it | ci penso io |
| that has nothing to do with it | non c’entra niente |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
ci vuole follows the thing that is needed.
Ci vogliono due ore per arrivare.It takes two hours to get there.
ci becomes ce in front of another pronoun.
Hai il biglietto? Sì, ce l’ho.Have you got the ticket? Yes, I have.
ne appears in the fixed phrases of having had enough.
Non ne posso più di questo rumore.I cannot stand this noise any more.
c'entra denies a connection.
Questo non c’entra con il problema.That has nothing to do with the problem.
Woran man es erkennt
- ci vuole
- ci vogliono
- ce l’ho
- non ne posso più
- c’entra
Beispielsätze
Ci vuole pazienza con questi moduli.These forms take patience.
Le chiavi? Ce le ho io.The keys? I have got them.
Non preoccuparti, ci penso io.Do not worry, I will see to it.
Che c’entra adesso questa storia?What has that got to do with anything?
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
« It takes two hours » has « it » for a subject, and « it » is never plural. Ci vuole has no « it » at all: the subject is the thing needed, so two hours make the verb plural — ci vogliono due ore. English hides the subject in a dummy word at the front; Italian leaves it in plain sight at the end, and the verb answers to it.
What is needed is the subject.
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