Breakdown of Nella società ci si comporta con educazione.
con
with
nella
in the (in + la)
la società
the society
ci si
one (impersonal with reflexive verbs)
Questions & Answers about Nella società ci si comporta con educazione.
Why does this sentence use ci si instead of just the impersonal si?
The verb here is comportarsi (to behave), which is reflexive. If we just used the regular impersonal si, we would end up with si si comporta (the impersonal si plus the reflexive pronoun si). Because that sounds awkward and repetitive, Italian changes the first one to ci, creating the structure ci si comporta (one behaves).
What is the infinitive form of the verb used here?
The infinitive is comportarsi. In Italian, "to behave" is a reflexive verb, meaning it requires a reflexive pronoun (like behaving oneself). Because the sentence is describing how people generally behave in an abstract sense, it takes the third-person singular conjugation comporta alongside the impersonal ci si.
Doesn't educazione mean "education"?
It is a classic false friend! While it relates to your upbringing, educazione almost always translates to "politeness" or "good manners" in everyday Italian. If you want to talk about academic schooling or formal education, the word you need is istruzione.
Why do we use nella (in the) instead of just in for "in society"?