Expressing irrelevance (non c'entra niente)

When an elaborate office prank goes wrong and the accusations start flying, you will need a quick way to say "I have nothing to do with it." In Italian, the go-to verb for expressing this lack of relation or involvement is the pronominal verb entrarci.

Entrarci

Entrarci is formed by pairing the verb entrare (to enter) with the pronoun ci. It conjugates exactly like entrare, with the pronoun ci sitting just in front of the verb. Note that ci drops its vowel and becomes c' before forms of the verb starting with a vowel (e.g., io c'entro, tu c'entri, noi c'entriamo).

While it can be used in the affirmative to say you do have something to do with a situation, it is most frequently used in the negative to firmly deny involvement. To add emphasis, Italians almost always include niente (nothing).

To specify what you have nothing to do with, use the preposition con (with).

And if a coworker tries to pin the blame on you, you can use entrarci in the affirmative to state their accusation.

Estraneo a

Another excellent way to clear your name is using the adjective estraneo (uninvolved / unrelated).

Because estraneo is an adjective, its ending must agree in gender and number with the person who is uninvolved (estraneo/a/i/e). Also, unlike entrarci (which pairs with con), estraneo always connects to the situation using the preposition a (to).

Deflecting the Blame

To fully defend yourself (or shift the blame entirely), you might need some highly specific vocabulary to describe exactly what you definitely did not do, such as insinuare (to insinuate), incollare (to glue), or smontare (to take apart).