Non conosciamo ancora la causa.

In Italian, standard negation is made by putting non directly before the conjugated verb.

• conosciamo = we know
• non conosciamo = we do not know

So:

• Non conosciamo ancora la causa. = We do not know the cause yet / We still do not know the cause.

This is the normal pattern in Italian:

• Non capisco = I do not understand
• Non parlano = They do not speak

Conosciamo is the 1st person plural, present indicative of conoscere.

So it means we know or we are familiar with.

Here is the relevant part of the present tense:

• io conosco = I know
• tu conosci = you know
• lui/lei conosce = he/she knows
• noi conosciamo = we know
• voi conoscete = you all know
• loro conoscono = they know

In this sentence, conosciamo tells you the subject is we, even though noi is not stated.

Italian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• conosciamo already means we know
• so noi is optional

You could say:

• Non conosciamo ancora la causa.
• Noi non conosciamo ancora la causa.

Both are correct, but the version without noi is more neutral and more natural in many contexts. Adding noi can give extra emphasis, as in we don’t know (perhaps unlike someone else).

Ancora can mean different things depending on context. In a negative sentence like this, it often corresponds to yet or still in English.

So:

• Non conosciamo ancora la causa.

can be translated as:

• We do not know the cause yet.
• We still do not know the cause.

Both are good English translations.

This is a very common use of ancora:

• Non è ancora arrivato. = He hasn’t arrived yet.
• Non ho ancora finito. = I haven’t finished yet.

Yes, ancora can also mean again in other contexts. But here, because it appears in a negative sentence and fits the idea of something not having happened up to now, it means yet/still, not again.

Compare:

• Leggilo ancora. = Read it again.
• Non lo sappiamo ancora. = We don’t know it yet.

So in your sentence, ancora is about time up to the present moment, not repetition.

Italian uses definite articles more often than English does. Here, la causa means the cause.

• la = the
• causa = cause

The article is needed because we are talking about a specific cause: the cause of something already understood from the context.

Also, causa is a feminine singular noun, so it takes la:

• il problema = the problem
• la causa = the cause

This is a very common question for English speakers, because both conoscere and sapere can sometimes translate as to know.

A helpful basic distinction is:

• sapere = to know a fact, information, how to do something
• conoscere = to know/be familiar with a person, place, subject, or something identified as an entity

In real Italian, when talking about the cause, conoscere can sound natural in the sense of being aware of / having identified the cause.

However, learners should know that Italian often prefers sapere when the idea is purely informational, especially in patterns like:

• Non sappiamo ancora quale sia la causa. = We still don’t know what the cause is.

So your sentence is grammatical and natural, but the choice between conoscere and sapere depends a lot on nuance and structure.

A rough guide:

• Conosciamo la causa. = We know the cause / We are acquainted with what the cause is
• Sappiamo qual è la causa. = We know what the cause is

Yes. That is also possible.

Both of these are correct:

• Non conosciamo ancora la causa.
• Ancora non conosciamo la causa.

The difference is mostly one of emphasis and style.

• Non conosciamo ancora la causa is the most neutral, straightforward wording.
• Ancora non conosciamo la causa gives a little more emphasis to the idea of still not.

English does something similar:

• We don’t know the cause yet.
• Still, we don’t know the cause. / We still don’t know the cause.

The sentence follows a very common Italian order:

• Non
  • verb
    • time adverb
      • object

So:

• Non = not
• conosciamo = we know
• ancora = yet/still
• la causa = the cause

Italian word order is often flexible, but this order is very natural and common.

Yes. In this sentence, la causa is the direct object of conosciamo.

The verb conoscere takes a direct object without a preposition:

• Conosciamo la verità. = We know the truth.
• Conosciamo la situazione. = We know the situation.
• Conosciamo la causa. = We know the cause.

So there is no a or other preposition before la causa.

Conosciamo is pronounced roughly like:

• ko-NO-sha-mo

A useful point is that sci in Italian is pronounced like sh in English:

• sci = shi sound

So:

• co-no-scia-mo
• not ko-no-skee-ah-mo

And gli / gn / sc combinations often need special attention in Italian pronunciation, so this is a good word to notice.

Yes. Conosciamo is present tense, and Italian often uses the present tense where English also uses the present.

• Non conosciamo ancora la causa.
  literally: We do not know yet the cause.

English may phrase the idea in different ways:

• We don’t know the cause yet.
• We still don’t know the cause.
• We haven’t identified the cause yet.

But in Italian, the simple present works perfectly here.

Grammatically, yes, but vocabulary matters.

Causa usually corresponds more directly to cause than to reason. English sometimes uses reason more broadly, but cause is often the better match here, especially if you are talking about a medical, technical, scientific, or explanatory context.

If Italian wanted reason in many everyday senses, it might use ragione or another expression depending on context.

So for learning purposes, it is best to keep:

• causa = cause