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.

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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.

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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.

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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.