The Italian particle ne: “some”, “of it”, “of them”

«Ne» is one of the shortest words in Italian and one of the most useful. It stands for something already mentioned and usually corresponds to “some”, “any”, “of it” or “of them”, words that English often leaves out altogether: «Quanti caffè bevi al giorno? Ne bevo tre.» “How many coffees do you drink a day? I drink three.”

Ne has two everyday jobs. The main one is to replace a noun when you say how much or how many of it there is. The second is to replace a phrase that starts with «di», as in «parlare di qualcosa» (to talk about something) or «avere bisogno di qualcosa» (to need something). In both cases ne sits where the other object pronouns sit: just before the conjugated verb.

Ne with numbers and quantities

When you answer with a number or an amount, Italian does not let the number stand alone. You keep the quantity and replace the noun with ne: «Hai dei fratelli? Sì, ne ho uno.» Saying «Sì, ho uno» sounds broken to an Italian ear.

Any expression of quantity works the same way: numbers, «molti», «pochi», «tanti», «alcuni», «un chilo», «un po’», «un bicchiere». For zero, put «non» before ne: «non ne ho». To stress that there is none at all, add «nessuno» or «nessuna» after the verb: «non ne ho nessuno».

This is the key contrast with lo, la, li and le. Those pronouns replace the whole, specific thing; ne replaces a part of it, or an amount of it. «Le mele? Le compro io.» means “I’ll buy the apples” (all of them). «Quante mele compri? Ne compro sei.» means “I’ll buy six (of them)”.

• Quanti anni hai? Ne ho trentadue. · How old are you? I’m thirty-two.
• Hai degli spiccioli? Mi dispiace, non ne ho. · Do you have any change? Sorry, I don’t have any.
• Questi biscotti sono buonissimi: ne prendo ancora uno. · These biscuits are delicious: I’ll have one more.

Ne for “di + something”

Many common verbs and expressions are followed by «di»: «parlare di», «avere bisogno di», «avere voglia di», «avere paura di», «essere sicuro di», «accorgersi di». When the thing after di is already clear, ne replaces the whole phrase: «Hai paura dei cani? No, non ne ho paura.»

The most frequent case is the question «Che ne pensi?» “What do you think (of it)?”. Here ne stands for the topic under discussion: «Ho trovato un nuovo lavoro. Che ne pensi?» Do not confuse it with «pensare a», which means to think about or take care of something and takes «ci»: «Ci penso io» “I’ll take care of it”.

Ne is most natural for things and ideas. When the phrase refers to a person, Italians usually keep the person and use a stressed pronoun instead: «Parli spesso di Marco? Sì, parlo spesso di lui.»

• Hai bisogno di un ombrello? Sì, ne ho proprio bisogno. · Do you need an umbrella? Yes, I really need one.
• Il concerto è stato bellissimo: ne parlano tutti. · The concert was wonderful: everyone is talking about it.
• Andiamo al mare domani. Che ne pensi? · Let’s go to the seaside tomorrow. What do you think?

Where ne goes in the sentence

With a conjugated verb, ne goes directly before it, and «non» goes before ne: «Ne compro due», «Non ne compro». It never goes after a conjugated verb, so «Compro ne due» is always wrong.

With a modal verb (volere, potere, dovere) followed by an infinitive, you have a choice. Ne can go before the modal, or attach to the end of the infinitive, which then drops its final -e: «Ne voglio comprare due» and «Voglio comprarne due» mean the same thing. With an affirmative tu, noi or voi command, ne attaches to the verb: «Prendine due!» “Take two!”, «Parliamone domani» “Let’s talk about it tomorrow”.

In the passato prossimo, ne comes before the auxiliary, and in standard Italian the past participle agrees with the noun that ne replaces: «Quante pagine hai letto? Ne ho lette venti.» Pagine is feminine plural, so the participle becomes lette.

Ce n’è and ce ne sono

Ne often combines with «c’è» and «ci sono» when you talk about how much of something there is. Before ne, «ci» changes to «ce», so «c’è» becomes «ce n’è» and «ci sono» becomes «ce ne sono». The verb agrees with the quantity, not with ne: one item takes «è», more than one takes «sono».

In the negative, «non» goes first: «Non ce n’è» “There isn’t any”, «Non ce ne sono» “There aren’t any”. Pay attention to the spelling: the apostrophe goes on «n’è», not on «c’è».

• C’è ancora latte? Sì, ce n’è un litro. · Is there any milk left? Yes, there’s a litre.
• Ci sono posti liberi? Sì, ce ne sono cinque. · Are there any free seats? Yes, there are five.
• Volevo del pane, ma non ce n’era più. · I wanted some bread, but there wasn’t any left.