Breakdown of Ci sono differenze culturali, ma ce la caviamo.
ma
but
c'è
there is / there are
cavarsela
to get by / to manage (scrape by)
la differenza
the difference
Questions & Answers about Ci sono differenze culturali, ma ce la caviamo.
How do we get ce la caviamo from the dictionary form cavarsela?
Cavarsela is a pronominal verb made of three parts: the base verb cavare, the reflexive pronoun si, and the direct object pronoun la. To say "we get by," we conjugate the verb for "we" (caviamo). Then, we change the reflexive pronoun to the "we" form (ci) and put the pronouns before the conjugated verb.
If the "we" reflexive pronoun is ci, why does the sentence say ce la instead of ci la?
In the first part of the sentence, we use ci sono. Is this the same ci as in ce la caviamo?
No, they have entirely different jobs! In ci sono (there are), ci acts as an adverb of place that pairs with the verb essere to mean "there". In ce la caviamo, the underlying ci (which changed to ce) is a reflexive pronoun. Italian uses the little word ci for several different grammatical roles, so you have to rely on context to know which one it is.