It's time to talk about particelle (particles). These short, two or three-letter words, such as ci and ne have many functions as well as meanings, and can even represent an indirect object pronoun plus its preposition. Particles can be freestanding or attached to a verb, depending on how the verb is conjugated (or not). Let's see how they work.

Ci is such a tiny word, but it has a lot of power. It can replace a direct object pronoun or an indirect pronoun + preposition, and means other things as well. You won't want to miss this lesson.

We learn even more about the particle ci. This short word can stand for a preposition (such as "on," "about," "with," or "to") + an indirect object.

Daniela talks about an unusual but common way we use the particle ci. In this segment she discusses volerci (to need, to take) and metterci (to employ, to put in). In English we use "it takes" and "it takes me/you/us/him/her/them" with an impersonal "it," so translating might very well create more problems than it solves. To help you understand how these particular verbs work, we have attempted, where possible, to use alternate translations to illustrate the grammatical structure of the sentences Daniela uses as examples.

Daniela gives us some more examples of how the particle ci is used. Lots of times it's superfluous and could technically be omitted but hardly ever is.

Daniela gives us plenty of examples of how to use ne and ci, those tricky little particles that mean so many different things and which can be quite a challenge for English speakers.