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La cena è bruciata e non c'è neanche il cuoco!

La cena è bruciata e non c'è neanche il cuoco!
The dinner is burnt and the cook isn't even here!
From Lesson 144:Emphatic negation (neanche, nemmeno, né... né)·Italian

Questions & Answers about La cena è bruciata e non c'è neanche il cuoco!

Why is there a non before c'è when neanche already means 'not even'?
In Italian, when a negative word like neanche, nemmeno, or neppure comes after the verb, you must use a double negative by putting non before the verb. If you put the negative word before the verb, you drop the non (for example: e neanche il cuoco c'è!).
Could I use nemmeno or neppure instead of neanche here?
Yes! Neanche, nemmeno, and neppure are essentially identical in meaning and can be used interchangeably to mean 'not even'. You could easily say e non c'è nemmeno il cuoco!
The translation says 'the cook isn't here', but doesn't non c'è usually mean 'there isn't'?
Yes, c'è literally means 'there is' (and non c'è means 'there isn't'). However, Italians use it all the time to say that someone 'is here' or 'is present' in a specific place. So non c'è il cuoco perfectly translates to 'the cook isn't here'.
Why does bruciata end in -a?
Bruciata is the past participle of the verb bruciare (to burn), and here it acts as an adjective describing the noun. Because La cena (the dinner) is a feminine singular noun, the adjective must change its ending to match, becoming bruciata.

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