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Ci sono duecento persone alla festa.

Ci sono duecento persone alla festa.
There are two hundred people at the party.
From Lesson 155:Big numbers (duecento, duemila)·Italian

Breakdown of Ci sono duecento persone alla festa.

la persona
the person
la festa
the party
duecento
two hundred

Questions & Answers about Ci sono duecento persone alla festa.

Why use persone for "people" instead of gente?
Both mean "people", but gente is a singular collective noun in Italian (similar to saying "a crowd"). Persone is the plural of persona (person) and is countable. Since we are counting an exact number (duecento), we must use the countable word persone.
Does cento change its ending in the plural? Why isn't it duecenti?
No, the word cento (hundred) is invariable, meaning it never changes its ending when used to build exact numbers. Whether it is one hundred (cento) or two hundred (duecento), the ending stays exactly the same.
Why do we use alla before festa instead of just a?
Alla means "at the". It is a combined word made by joining the preposition a (at/to) with the definite article la (the). We need the article here because we are talking about a specific party, and since festa is feminine singular, a plus la becomes alla.
Why is it ci sono and not c'è?
Ci sono means "there are", which is the plural form. C'è means "there is" and is used for singular nouns. Because we are talking about multiple people (duecento persone), we must use the plural ci sono.

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