Learn Italian: Se l'edicola è chiusa, non ci andiamo. - If the newsstand is closed, we are not going there.

Se l'edicola è chiusa, non ci andiamo.

If the newsstand is closed, we are not going there.

Breakdown of Se l'edicola è chiusa, non ci andiamo.

to go / to be fine / to work out

Questions & Answers about Se l'edicola è chiusa, non ci andiamo.

What does ci mean in this sentence? Doesn't it usually mean "us"?

While ci often means "us", in this context it is a locative pronoun meaning "there" or "to that place". Here, it replaces the phrase "to the newsstand" so we don't have to repeat it.

Why is ci placed between non and andiamo?

Pronouns like ci almost always go directly before the conjugated verb. When a sentence is negative, non goes right before the pronoun, giving us the order: non + pronoun + verb (non ci andiamo).

Why does chiusa end in "-a"?

Chiusa means "closed" and acts as an adjective here. Because it describes l'edicola (the newsstand), which is a feminine singular noun, the adjective must match it and end in "-a".

The translation says "we are not going", but andiamo is present tense. Is that normal?

Yes! Italians frequently use the present tense to talk about the near future or immediate plans. Saying non ci andiamo (we are not going / we don't go) is perfectly natural for a conditional "if" statement like this.