Breakdown of Non so cosa ci sia dentro, ma lo aprirò e te ne parlerò.
io
I
essere
to be
aprire
to open
e
and
parlare
to talk
ma
but
non
not
dentro
inside
sapere
to know
lo
it
ne
of it
ci
there
te
you
cosa
what
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Italian grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Non so cosa ci sia dentro, ma lo aprirò e te ne parlerò.
What does ci sia mean in cosa ci sia dentro?
ci is an adverbial pronoun meaning there (referring to the interior of something) and sia is the present‐tense subjunctive of essere (to be). Combined, ci sia literally means “there is”, with the subjunctive conveying that what’s inside is unknown or uncertain.
Why is the subjunctive sia used instead of the indicative è?
After verbs or expressions of uncertainty or lack of knowledge (here non so), Italian normally requires the subjunctive in subordinate clauses. Since you don’t know what is inside, you say cosa ci sia rather than cosa ci è.
What role does the pronoun ci play in that clause?
Here ci functions like the English word “there” in existential sentences (“there is something inside”). It replaces a locative phrase such as in esso or al suo interno, so cosa ci sia dentro = cosa sia dentro di esso.
Why do we say lo aprirò instead of just aprirò?
lo is the masculine singular direct‐object pronoun meaning “it”. You use it because the speaker is referring back to a specific masculine noun (for example il pacco or quel cofanetto). Lo aprirò means “I will open it.”
Why is the pronoun placed before aprirò and not attached after the verb?
In Italian, clitic pronouns precede finite verb forms (this is called proclisis). You can only attach pronouns (enclisis) to infinitives, gerunds or imperatives. Since aprirò is a future‐tense finite verb, its pronoun lo comes before it: lo aprirò.
What does te ne parlerò mean?
It means “I will talk to you about it.” Here te is the indirect‐object pronoun “to you,” and ne is a pronoun meaning “of it” or “about it,” referring back to whatever was inside.
Why is the order te ne (and not ne te)?
When two clitic pronouns appear together, Italian has a fixed sequence. An indirect‐object pronoun like te comes before a pronoun like ne. You always say te ne and never ne te.
Could we omit ne and simply say te parlerò?
You could say te parlerò meaning “I will speak to you,” but you’d lose the meaning “about it.” In Italian, to express speaking of a topic you need either ne or an explicit di + [noun] (for example te parlerò di questo).
Why is there a comma before ma?
Just like in English, Italian often uses a comma before a coordinating conjunction (here ma, meaning “but”) to separate two independent clauses: Non so..., ma....
Can you say Non lo so cosa ci sia dentro instead of Non so cosa ci sia dentro?
In isolation Non lo so is a perfectly fine standalone phrase (“I don’t know it”), but when you directly follow it with a subordinate clause, native usage normally drops the pronoun: Non so cosa ci sia dentro. If you really want to keep lo, you’d usually separate it: Non lo so. Cosa c’è dentro?