The word ci often means "there" for locations, but it can also act as a shortcut pronoun to replace entire phrases starting with the prepositions con (with) or su (on).
| with him/her/it (replacing 'con' or 'su' + noun/pronoun) | ci |
Ci replacing con (with)
When you want to say you do something "with him," "with her," "with them," or "with it," replace the whole phrase (con lui, con lei, etc.) with ci. Place it immediately before the conjugated verb.
| The new developer is very nice, I talk with him often. | Il nuovo sviluppatore è molto simpatico, ci parlo spesso. |
If the sentence has a modal verb (like volere or potere) followed by an infinitive, you can place ci right before the conjugated modal verb.
| This software is awful, I don't want to work with it. | Questo software è pessimo, non ci voglio lavorare. |
Ci replacing su (on)
Similarly, ci replaces phrases starting with su (on). This is useful for verbs often followed by su, such as lavorare su (to work on) or contare su (to count on).
| The application is slow, the developers are working on it. | L'applicazione è lenta, gli sviluppatori ci lavorano. |
It works the same way when referring to people ("on him" or "on her"):
| The user is angry. You cannot count on him. | L'utente è arrabbiato. Non ci puoi contare. |
Attaching ci to the end of a verb
Like other pronouns, ci attaches to the end of the verb in specific situations:
- Infinitives: Drop the final -e and attach ci to the end (fare becomes farci, contare becomes contarci). You can do this even after a modal verb.
- Imperatives: For affirmative commands, attach ci to the end.
| The code is full of errors, we cannot do anything good with it. | Il codice è pieno di errori, non possiamo farci niente di buono. |
| The server crashes often, you can't count on it. | Il server cade spesso, non puoi contarci. |
| If you see the link for the database, click on it immediately! | Se vedi il link per il database, cliccaci subito! |
