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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*.

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### *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).

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

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### *Estraneo a*

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

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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).

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### 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).

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Expressing irrelevance (non c'entra niente)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
to have to do with	entrarci
I have nothing to do with this prank!	Io non c'entro niente con questo scherzo!
to accuse	accusare
Why do you accuse me? I have nothing to do with it.	Perché mi accusi? Io non c'entro niente.
blatantly / obviously	palesemente
uninvolved / unrelated	estraneo
He is clearly uninvolved in this story.	Lui è palesemente estraneo a questa storia.
to involve	coinvolgere
Don't involve me, I am uninvolved in this prank.	Non coinvolgermi, sono estraneo a questo scherzo.
to insinuate	insinuare
to glue / to paste	incollare
the photocopier	la fotocopiatrice
The director insinuates this, but I didn't glue the photocopier.	Il direttore insinua questo, ma io non ho incollato la fotocopiatrice.
The colleague insinuates that we have something to do with it.	Il collega insinua che noi c'entriamo.
to devise / to think up	ideare
Whoever devised the prank has nothing to do with this office.	Chi ha ideato lo scherzo non c'entra niente con questo ufficio.
You clearly glued the keyboard!	Avete palesemente incollato la tastiera!
to take apart / to dismantle (machinery, furniture)	smontare
This photocopier cannot be taken apart in two minutes.	Questa fotocopiatrice non si può smontare in due minuti.
They devised a brilliant plan to take apart the computer.	Hanno ideato un progetto geniale per smontare il computer.
Involve someone else! I didn't accuse anyone.	Coinvolgi qualcun altro! Io non ho accusato nessuno.
to have to do with	avere a che fare con
This has nothing to do with me.	Questo non ha niente a che fare con me.
The delay has to do with the strike.	Il ritardo ha a che fare con lo sciopero.
to matter, to care (non me ne frega niente = I don't care at all)	fregare
I do not care at all about that film.	Non me ne frega niente di quel film.
He does not care at all about our opinion.	Non gliene frega niente della nostra opinione.

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