Talking "About It" with "Ne"
When discussing the news or the latest gossip, you will often use verbs followed by the preposition di, such as parlare di (to talk about) or scrivere di (to write about). To avoid repeating the topic over and over, you can replace di + [noun] with the pronoun ne.
Ne generally translates to "about it", "about them", "of it", or "of them". Like most other object pronouns, it is placed directly before the conjugated verb.
| The journalist knows about the scandal, but he does not talk about it. | Il giornalista sa dello scandalo, ma non ne parla. |
| If the journalists write about the scandal, we will talk about it. | Se i giornalisti scrivono dello scandalo, ne parleremo. |
"Ne" vs. "Ci"
Be careful to match your pronoun to the preposition the verb requires. Ne specifically replaces phrases starting with di. If a verb is followed by a instead—such as credere a (to believe [something])—you must use the pronoun ci to say "it" or "in it".
| Someone is spreading that gossip, but I do not believe it. | Qualcuno diffonde quel pettegolezzo, ma non ci credo. |
| The journalist is exaggerating, I do not believe it. | Il giornalista esagera, non ci credo. |
Discussing Current Events
You can use ne with any verb or phrase followed by di, such as discutere di (to discuss) or capire di (to understand [about]).
| The press writes about the elections and everyone discusses it. | La stampa scrive delle elezioni e tutti ne discutono. |
| Some students watch the debate, but they understand nothing of it. | Alcuni studenti guardano il dibattito, ma non ne capiscono niente. |
| We have the results of the poll, but we will not discuss it. | Abbiamo i risultati del sondaggio, ma non ne discuteremo. |
| I have read about the controversy and I will write about it. | Ho letto della polemica e ne scriverò. |
