Question 1

This lesson is about entrarci (to be relevant/have to do with). Could I use c'entra in this sentence instead of ha a che fare con?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you could say Il ritardo c'entra con lo sciopero. Both expressions mean 'to have to do with'. However, avere a che fare con is extremely common when making an affirmative statement ('it DOES have to do with...'), whereas entrarci is most famous for its negative use (non c'entra niente - 'it has nothing to do with it').

Question 2

Why is there a che in the middle of ha a che fare con?

Accepted Answer

Avere a che fare con is a fixed idiom that perfectly mirrors the English 'to have to do with'. The che here functions similarly to 'something' or 'things'. Literally, it translates close to 'to have (things) that to do with'. It is best to memorize this entire phrase as a single, indivisible chunk.

Question 3

If I wanted to say the delay has nothing to do with the strike using this exact idiom, how would I phrase it?

Accepted Answer

You would make the verb negative and add niente or nulla right after the verb. The phrase becomes: Il ritardo non ha niente a che fare con lo sciopero. If you used the lesson's featured verb instead, it would be Il ritardo non c'entra niente con lo sciopero.

Question 4

Just a quick refresher: why do we use lo for sciopero instead of il?

Accepted Answer

The noun sciopero starts with an 's' followed by another consonant ('c'). In Italian, masculine words starting with an 'impure s' (s + consonant), as well as 'z', 'ps', 'pn', and 'gn', always take the definite article lo instead of il.

Il ritardo ha a che fare con lo sciopero.

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