Italian Language Blog

In this third part of my blog dedicated to the si impersonale, I’ll discuss its use when combined with other pronouns. Let’s start with ‘ne’ (of it /them, about it /them), that nasty little word that I discussed some time ago in this blog: Ne

1. Si impersonale + ne

The impersonal pronoun si always precedes the pronoun ne and changes from si to se, e.g.

Quanta neve! non se ne vedeva così tanta dal 1985 (What a lot of snow! We hadn’t seen so much of it since 1985)

Non se ne può più di questo tempo! (‘I/we’ve had enough of this weather’, or ‘can’t stand this weather anymore!’)

Se ne riparlerà la settimana prossima (We’ll talk about it next week)

The impersonal form of a reflexive verb, which as I explained in part 2 is ‘ci si’, when combined with ne becomes ci se ne, e.g.

Le cose stanno così, ci se ne deve fare una ragione (That’s how things are, one has to accept it)

2. Si impersonale + pronome diretto “lo, la, li, le” (Impersonal si + direct pronoun “it, them”)

The direct pronoun always precedes the impersonal si, e.g.

Il questionario? lo si può mandare per posta (The questionnaire? you can send it by post)

che lo si voglia o no (whether you want it or not)

Quando la pasta è cotta la si scola (When the pasta is cooked, drain it)

Si affettano le cipolle, poi le si fanno rosolare nell’olio ben caldo (Slice the onions, then sauté them in the hot oil)

3. Si impersonale + indirect pronouns “mi, ti, gli, le, ci, vi” (Impersonal si + indirect pronouns “to me, to you singular, to him/to them, to her, to us, to you plural”)

The indirect pronoun always precedes the impersonal si, e.g.

Da quanto tempo è che non ti si vedeva da queste parti! (It’s a long time since you were last seen around here!)

Ha detto tante di quelle bugie, che non le si può più credere (She has told so many lies, that one can’t believe her anymore)

Mi si dice che non ci sono più soldi (I’m told that there are no more money)

4. Si impersonale + pronome diretto + pronome indiretto o riflessivo (Impersonal si + direct pronoun + indirect or reflexive pronoun)

When using these three together they are put in the following order: 1. indirect or reflexive pronoun, which changes its ending to –e (me, te, ce, etc.). 2. direct pronoun (lo, la, etc.). 3. si impersonale

Te lo si legge in faccia (Lit. ‘to you one reads it in your face’, meaning ‘it’s written all over your face’)

Non ce lo si può permettere (Lit. ‘to oneself one cannot allow it’, meaning ‘we/one can’t afford it’)

Questa volta non gliela si può far passare liscia (Lit. ‘This time to him/her one cannot let it go smooth’, meaning ‘This time he/she can’t get away with it’)

Finally, a couple of curios uses of the impersonal si:

In adverts (probably because you pay based on the number of words you use) it’s common to find the si impersonale attached to the end of the verb in the present tense, e.g.

affittasi casa per vacanze instead of si affitta (Lit. ‘one rents house for holidays’, meaning ‘holiday house for rent’)

vendesi tagliaerba come nuovo instead of si vende (Lit. ‘one sells lawnmower as new’, meaning ‘lawnmower for sale, as new’)

cercasi babysitter instead of si cerca (Lit. ‘one looks for babysitter’, meaning ‘babysitter wanted’).

In Toscana it’s common to hear the personal ‘noi’ used together with the impersonal si, e.g.

Ciao, noi si va instead of Ciao, noi andiamo (Lit. ‘Bye, us one goes’, meaning ‘Bye, we’re going)

Noi non si era capito instead of Noi non avevamo capito (Lit. ‘Us one hadn’t understood’, meaning ‘we hadn’t understood’).

A few days ago I wrote about the impersonal pronoun ‘si’: Si Impersonale – part 1

Today I’ll continue by looking at some other aspects of the si impersonale.

1. Verbi Riflessivi (Reflexive Verbs)

Let’s see how the si impersonale is used with reflexive verbs. Take for example the reflexive verb riposarsi (to rest oneself): mi riposo (I rest myself), lui/lei si riposa (he or she rests himself/herself), noi ci riposiamo (we rest ourselves) etc. Now, when we use a reflexive verb in the impersonal form, we have to make a small modification in order to avoid repeating ‘si’, therefore, instead of saying ‘si si riposa’ (one rests oneself – reflexive pronoun + impersonal pronoun) we change the first ‘si’ to a ‘çi’ to make ci si riposa (one rests oneself), e.g. la domenica ci si riposa (one rests oneself on Sundays). Follow the same rule for all reflexive verbs, e.g. ci si veste (one dresses oneself), ci si alza (one gets oneself up) etc.

2. Accordo del participio passato (Agreement with the past participle)

As I explained in part 1 of this blog, the passato prossimo (present perfect) is always built with the verb essere, even with transitive verbs that would normally have the verb avere. If you need to revise the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs, you’ll find my blog on the topic here: Transitive and Intransitive Verbs. However, there are several possibilities for the ending of the participio passato (past participle). Let’s have a look at them:

a. If the verb is transitive and is not followed by a direct object, the past participle ends in o, e.g. dopo che si è studiato, ci si può rilassare (after one has studied, one can relax).

b. When the transitive verb is followed by a direct object, the past participle agrees with the object, i.e. the ending changes from masculine to feminine, and from singular to plural, e.g.:

dopo che si è messa l’acqua nella pentola (fem.singular – after you’ve put the water in the saucepan);

dopo che si sono messe le patate nella pentola (fem.plural – after you’ve put the potatoes in the saucepan);

dopo che si è messo il riso nella pentola (masc.singular. – after you’ve put the rice in the saucepan);

dopo che si sono messi gli spaghetti nella pentola (masc.plural – after you’ve put the spaghetti in the saucepan).

c. In reflexive verbs, the past participle is normally masculine plural, e.g. una volta che ci si è riposati, si può continuare il viaggio (once one has rested, one can carry on with the journey).

d. With intransitive verbs such as andare (to go), which would normally use the verb essere in the passato prossimo, the impersonal form has the past participle in the masculine plural, e.g. una volta che si è andati via, non bisogna ritornare (once you’ve gone away, you don’t need to come back).

e. With intransitive verbs such as camminare (to walk), which would normally use the verb avere in the passato prossimo, the impersonal form has the past participle in the masculine singular, e.g. fanno male le gambe dopo che si è camminato molto in montagna (your legs hurt after you’ve walked in the mountains for a long time).

OK, I’d intended to finish off this post by mentioning how the si impersonale is affected by other personal pronouns, together with a couple of curiosities linked to this construction. But the more I think about it, the more complicated it becomes … so there will be a Part 3!

Si dice che al finesettimana avremo temperature primaverili (They say that at the weekend we’ll have spring like temperatures). In Italian we often use the impersonal pronoun ‘si’, known as si impersonale. It is commonly translated in English as ‘one’, but can also mean ‘they’, ‘you’, or ‘it’ in an impersonal sense.

To clarify, let’s first have a look at when we would use it:

1. The si impersonale comes in very handy when we don’t express the subject of the action, i.e. who is carrying out the action, especially in those very generic expressions such as ‘si dice che’ (‘they say that’, or ‘it is said that’), ‘si pensa che’ (‘it is thought that’), ‘si crede che’ (‘it is believed that’), and so on.

2. The si impersonale  is used in sayings and aphorisms such as quando si ama il proprio lavoro, non si sente la fatica (‘when one loves one’s own job, one doesn’t get tired’ or ‘When you love your job, you don’t feel the tiredness’), or non si vive di solo pane (one does not live on bread alone).

3. It is also common to use the si impersonale when giving impersonal instructions such as in leaflets, guides, recipes, or written polite orders:

all’incrocio si gira a destra (at the junction you turn right, or, turn right at the junction);

si deve rispettare la legge (one must respect the law, or, the law must be respected);

si mette l’acqua in una pentola profonda (put the water in a deep saucepan);

si prega di non toccare (please, do not touch).

Now let’s have a look at how to use the si impersonale:

The si impersonale is normally followed by a verb in the third person singular (the ‘lui’ form), e.g. si mette l’acqua…, however when it’s followed by a plural direct object, the verb is in the third person plural, e.g.: si mettono gli spaghetti nell’acqua bollente (put the spaghetti in the boiling water).

Because of its similarity to the reflexive pronoun ‘si’, the passato prossimo (present perfect) is always built with the verb essere, even with transitive verbs that would normally have the verb avere, e.g. dopo che si è messa l’acqua nella pentola (after you’ve put the water in the saucepan).

In the impersonal construction si è + aggettivo (you are + adjective), the adjective is always plural, e.g. è dificile leggere quando si è stanchi (it’s difficult to read when you are tired), or quando c’è il sole si è più allegri (when it’s sunny you feel happier).

I’ll be looking at some other aspects of the si impersonale in Part 2 of the blog. A presto!