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### Believing in it and thinking about it

In Italian, verbs like **credere** (to believe) and **pensare** (to think) are followed by the preposition **a** when talking about believing *in* or thinking *about* something.

To avoid repeating the noun, you can replace the entire phrase starting with **a** with the little word **ci** (in it / about it). Just like most pronouns, **ci** goes directly before the conjugated verb.

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### Caring and paying attention

This pattern works for any verb that pairs with the preposition **a**. Some common ones you will use when talking about superstitions and luck are **badare a** (to pay attention to) and **tenere a** (to care about).

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### Attaching "ci" to infinitives

If the verb remains in the infinitive (unconjugated)—for example, after a helper verb like *dovresti* (you should)—you attach **ci** directly to the end of it. Just drop the final **-e** of the infinitive first.

For example, *credere* becomes **crederci**, and *rinunciare* (to give up) becomes **rinunciarci**.

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The complement clitic (ci)

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
magic	la magia
about it / in it (with verbs taking 'a')	ci
I don't believe in magic, but do you believe in it?	Non credo alla magia, ma tu ci credi?
superstition	la superstizione
irrational	irrazionale
That superstition is irrational, but before going out I always think about it.	Quella superstizione è irrazionale, ma prima di uscire ci penso sempre.
to care about	tenere a
amulet	l'amuleto
to give up	rinunciare
I care a lot about this amulet; you shouldn't give it up.	Tengo molto a questo amuleto; non dovresti rinunciarci.
bad luck	la sfortuna
Bad luck does not exist; I don't believe in it anymore.	La sfortuna non esiste; non ci credo più.
That superstition is irrational; you shouldn't believe in it anymore.	Quella superstizione è irrazionale; non dovresti più crederci.
I am not giving up my amulet; I care about it too much.	Non rinuncio al mio amuleto; ci tengo troppo.
Before going out I read the horoscope; I believe in it a lot.	Prima di uscire leggo l'oroscopo; ci credo molto.
evil eye	il malocchio
Marco believes in the evil eye, but I still don't believe in it.	Marco crede al malocchio, ma io non ci credo ancora.
Does the evil eye exist? I have never believed in it.	Il malocchio esiste? Non ci ho mai creduto.
A lot of people believe in the horoscope, but I don't believe in it.	Molta gente crede all'oroscopo, ma io non ci credo.
to pay attention	badare
Bad luck exists, but I do not pay attention to it.	La sfortuna esiste, ma io non ci bado.
horn	il corno
to protect	proteggere
Magic? I do not pay attention to it, but the horn protects me.	La magia? Non ci bado, ma il corno mi protegge.
Does the red horn protect you? Do you believe in it?	Il corno rosso ti protegge? Tu ci credi?