Talking About People in General (the ci si formula)
When you want to talk about people in general and what they do, there are various options in Italian. Let's kick off the lesson with a common fact: Italians eat a lot of pasta.
We can say:
Gli italiani mangiano tanta pasta (Italians eat a lot of pasta).
In Italia, quasi tutti mangiano la pasta (in Italy, almost everyone eats pasta).
But we have another very popular option. Instead of specifying anyone in particular with nouns like "Italians" or "everyone," we can use a special formula to talk about what "people in general" do. We do this by placing the little word (also called a "particle") si right before a third-person singular verb. Here it is in action:
In Italia, si mangia tanta pasta.
Even though it translates to "In Italy, people eat a lot of pasta," this formula with si functions a bit like the English word "one" (as in, "one eats a lot of pasta in Italy"). The basic rule for this general si structure is that the verb stays in the third-person singular almost all the time (with some exceptions we'll get to later).
And if you are ever a guest in an Italian home, you will definitely hear someone call out:
"Si mangia!" It means "it's time to eat!" or "The food's on the table!"
Literally, it translates to "one eats," making it the ultimate everyday example of this structure in action.
Now we know that when we're talking about people in general performing an action, we can just put si in front of the third-person singular verb, such as si mangia (one eats/people eat) or si viaggia (one travels/people travel).
"Ormai si viaggia più spesso in aereo",
"These days, one travels more and more often by plane,"
Caption 32, Corso di italiano con Daniela La forma passiva - Part 3
Play Caption
The Grammar Collision: When Reflexive Verbs Join the Party
So far, the verbs we've talked about have been, let's say, standard verbs. But what happens when the verb we want to use with a si formula is already a reflexive verb? That's when the "collision" happens.
That's because we also use this same particle, si, when conjugating reflexive verbs, those verbs in which the subject and the object are the same. ➡️ Learn about reflexive verbs in this lesson, and how to conjugate them in this lesson.
When we conjugate a verb like svegliarsi (to wake up), we need si.
Tutte le mattine si sveglia con il cuscino pieno di lacrime.
Every morning she wakes up with her pillow full of tears.
Caption 42, Volare - La grande storia di Domenico Modugno Ep. 2 - Part 15
Play Caption
So when we have a conjugated reflexive verb where we need si AND an impersonal formula where we need si, we have a unique kind of grammar collision.
In other words:
1) We use a reflexive verb like vestirsi (to dress oneself), where si is part of the verb. For example: Di solito, una persona che fa trekking si veste a cipolla (usually, a person who goes hiking dresses in layers).
2) We want to speak impersonally ("people in general"), which also requires the subject si (as we illustrated earlier in the lesson).
In essence, we want to combine the impersonal subject with a reflexive verb. So we try it out: Di solito si si veste a cipolla...
But that does not cut it. It is not good Italian. To Italians, repeating si - si doesn't work. To make it sound better, Italian grammar requires always changing the first particle in a double-pronoun chain. Since the reflexive pronoun si is stuck tightly to the verb, it stays where it is, and it is actually the first si (the impersonal one) that changes to ci.
So this is the process:
⚠️ It's easy to confuse this grammatical ci with the word ci meaning "us." In fact, this is just one of the many ways we use ci in Italian! ➡️ For more on ci, see this lesson!
Real-World Examples from the Wild
Let’s look at how we use this ci-si trick with everyday verbs: divertirsi (to have fun), svegliarsi (to wake up), riposarsi (to rest), sentirsi (to feel).
A Dixieland ci si diverte con poco e nulla.
At Dixieland one has fun with next to nothing.
Caption 30, Dixiland La magia di Tribo
Play Caption
E, no. -No, domani è domenica, ci si sveglia tardi, -E sì. -ci si riposa.
No. -No, tomorrow is Sunday, one wakes up late, -Yes. -one rests.
Captions 45-46, La compagnia del cigno S2 EP 2 - Part 11
Play Caption
E... volevo chiederti, come ci si sente da sposati?
And... I wanted to ask you, how does one feel, married?
Captions 52-53, Sposami EP 5 - Part 16
Play Caption
In this next example, the speaker is using the impersonal form to speak in general about modern life, using "one" in the third-person singular.
Note that the last 2 verbs are reflexive verbs: vestirsi (to dress) and pettinarsi (to style one's hair), so for the first 2 verbs — viaggiare (to travel) and parlare (to talk), there is just the impersonal si, and for the last 2, we find ci si, in other words, both the impersonal si transformed into ci and the reflexive si.
Perché qua sta cambiando un po' tutto. -Sì, e... Come si viaggia, come si parla, come ci si veste, come ci si pettina.
Because here, everything is kind of changing. -Yes, and... The way one travels, the way one talks, the way one dresses, the way one styles one's hair.
Captions 11-13, Volare - La grande storia di Domenico Modugno Ep. 1 - Part 23
Play Caption
A Sneak Peek into the next lesson on this topic:
Here is an example using the verb mettersi (a very common reflexive form of mettere — to put), meaning to sit down/set oneself to a task. Pay close attention to the second half of this sentence:
E come tanti altri italiani, il ventiquattro sera, verso le sette, ci si mette a cena, e si mangiano pietanze a base di pesce.
And like many other Italians, the evening of the twenty-fourth, around seven, we sit down to dinner, and one eats dishes with fish as their basis.
Captions 5-8, Marika spiega La Vigilia di Natale
Play Caption
Did you spot the twist? The phrase si mangiano refers to an object in the plural (le pietanze - the dishes), so the verb magically flips to the plural to agree with it! This takes some getting used to, and it brings us to our next big topic...
The Plural Object Trap: If people are acting on multiple objects, the verb unexpectedly flips to the plural!
Standard: Ci si prepara un caffè. (One prepares a coffee.)
The Trap: Ci si preparano tre caffè. (One prepares three coffees.)
When you are out in the wild watching Italian videos or chatting with locals, don't worry about memorizing heavy grammar terms. Just remember our two simple visual tricks:
The si-si fix: When a verb is reflexive and impersonal, change that first si to ci to keep things flowing smoothly (ci si veste).
The order rule: The front word (ci) means "people in general," and the back word (si) stays glued to the verb.
In our next lesson, we are going to dive deeper into that final example. We will unpack exactly why si mangia suddenly transforms into si mangiano when plural objects enter the room. Until then, keep your ears open for the ci-si trick. Alla prossima!
Thanks for reading. Write to us at [email protected]. We love to hear from you!
Spanish
French
German
Chinese
English
English 
Español
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
