Here are some short sentences for you to translate into Italian, each of which requires the use of ci. Before you have a go at it you may need to check out this post: Tricky Little Words – Ci

A. Ci is commonly used as un avverbio (an adverb) with the meaning of ‘here’ or ‘there’, e.g. finalmente ci siamo (here we are at last), non c’è molto pane (there isn’t much bread), etc.

1. Was Giovanni at the party last night? … no he wasn’t there

2. Are there any eggs in the fridge?

3. Have you ever been to Milano? … no I’ve never been there

4. When do you think you’ll go there?

5. Once, there was a lovely garden here

6. How long have you lived here?

7. There’s a wasp in the house

8. We went there last week

9. I’m going to the bar, are you coming there as well?

B. Volerci = it requires, it needs e.g. per fare un tavolo ci vuole il legno (making a table requires wood, or to make a table you need wood)

1. You don’t need much strength to do that job

2. You need two eggs to make that cake

3. How long does it take to get to Foggia?

4. It needs a bit of salt

C. Metterci = it takes, e.g. il treno per Milano ci mette due ore (the train to Milano takes two hours)

1. How long did you take to finish that book?

2. The ferry to Sardegna took three hours

3. It took us two days to decorate the living room

4. But it took us another four days to assemble the Ikea bookcase

D. Pensarci = to take care of something, e.g. non ti preoccupare, ci penso io! (don’t worry, I’ll take care of it)

1. Marco said that he’d taken care of it

2. I’ll bring some pizza and you take care of the drinks

E. Crederci = to believe in something, e.g. Giovanni: ci credi nei fantasmi? Anna: No, non ci credo (Giovanni: do you believe in ghosts? Anna: No, I don’t believe in them)

1. Luca and Elisa have finally got married? I don’t believe it!

2. Can you believe that Berlusconi wants to be President of the Republic? Incredible!

F. Provarci = to have a go at something, e.g. Giovanni: hai mai sciato? Anna: No, mai. Giovanni: Dai, provaci! (Giovanni: Have you ever skied? Anna: No, never. Giovanni: Come on, have a go at it!)

1. I don’t know if I’ll be able to fix it but I’ll have a go.

2. Have you seen this great quiz about ci? come on, let’s have a go at it!

Find out how you got on on Friday when I publish the answers.