Ammettere (to admit) is somewhat of a true cognate when used in the indicative.
We can use it when referring to gaining access, say, to a course or school.

Non è facile essere ammesso alla facoltà di medicina.
It’s not easy to get admitted to the pre-med program.

It also refers to acknowledging something, like an opinion or an error. Here, too, ammettere is a true cognate.

Ammetto di aver reagito troppo in fretta.
I admit I reacted too hastily.

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But, when we find ammettere with che (that), and it’s often in the past participle ammesso, it calls for the subjunctive, as Daniela mentions in a recent lesson on the subjunctive. But be careful because the meaning changes. Here it means “to assume” or “to suppose.” We are not confirming something, we are assuming. We're talking about something unsure, which is why the subjunctive is used.

Allora, un amico mi dice una cosa,

So, a friend tells me something,

io non sono sicura se è vero o no,

I'm not sure whether it's true or not,

e dico: "Ammesso che sia vero, è interessante".

and I say: “Assuming it's true, it is interesting.”

Captions 39-41, Corso di italiano con Daniela - Il congiuntivo

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Amettiamo che lui l'abbia uccisa.

Let's assume that he killed her.

Caption 38, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP10 - Un morto di troppo

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A common expression in Italian uses this form: Ammesso e non concesso (assuming, for the sake of argument).

Ammesso e non concesso che quest’uomo sia innocente, lui non avrà problemi a dire la verità.
Assuming, for the sake of argument, that this man is innocent, he won't have any trouble telling the truth.

or, more literally:

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Assuming, but not granting, that this man is innocent, he won't have any trouble telling the truth.

The verb assumere exists as well in Italian. But that’s another story, which we'll get to in a future lesson.

A common contraction we hear every day in Italian is c’è (there is). If we open it up, we find two words:

Ci (there) and è (third person singular of essere [to be]).

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When referring to objects in a place, c'è is fairly straightforward, and its English translation “there is” corresponds quite well:

Nel corpo di Giada non c'è traccia di quel sonnifero.

In Giada's body there is no trace of that sleeping medicine.

Caption 50, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP10 - Un morto di troppo - Part 9

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But things aren't always so straightforward. Let’s look at the following example where, to our ears, it might seem like there’s an extraneous “there.” In fact, the literal translation of the Italian would be “there’s the mama.” Let’s not forget that Italian uses ci to mean “there” and “here” interchangeably for the most part.

...vai, vai tranquillo, c'è la mamma!

...go, don't worry, Mommy's here!

-Sì, mamma.

-Yes, Mom.

Captions 22-23, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP4 - Le Lettere Di Leopardi - Part 10

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In the following example, and the previous one, we see that the word order changes between English and Italian. In Italian the ci (there) comes before the conjugated verb “to be,” making the contraction easy, but in English we need to put “there” afterwards:

Sì, ma non c'è nessuno.

Yes, but nobody is there.

È tutto serrato.

It's all locked up.

Captions 9-10, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP1 - Un delitto perfetto - Part 1

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Or, we can put in an extra “there.”

There’s nobody there.
There’s nobody here.

Attenzione! If we want to distinguish between “here” and “there,” then we can use qui and lì.

Il libro non è qui, è lì (the book isn't here; it's there).

Italian uses “there is” to mean “it exists”:

È il minerale più resistente che c'è in natura.

It's the most resistant mineral that exists in nature.

Rilassati Gina.

Relax, Gina.

Captions 17-18, La Ladra - EP. 1 - Le cose cambiano

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But there are also colloquial turns of phrase that use “there is” that don't quite correspond to English. The following example is in the imperfetto or simple past.

C'era Lei di turno tre notti fa? -Sì.

Were you on duty three nights ago? -Yes.

Caption 3, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP10 - Un morto di troppo - Part 10

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When asking for someone on the phone, Italians use c’è. Remember that unlike English, questions and statements in Italian have the same word order, but the inflection changes.

Pronto. -Salve, c’è Susanna?
Hello. -Hello, is Susanna there?

When asking what’s wrong, it’s easy to say:

Che c'è? -Niente.

What's the matter? -Nothing.

Caption 7, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP5 - Il Raggio Verde - Part 5

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In this case, translating literally (what is there?) does not work at all!

Lastly, let’s not forget the popular song by Nek, "Laura non c'è". Note again the fact that ci (here, there) is inserted before the verb “to be.”

Laura non c'è, è andata via

Laura's not here; she's gone away

Caption 1, Nek - Laura non c'è

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We’ll often come back to the word ci in lessons, since it really does get around, and can be tricky. For more about ci, see these lessons.