Now that we have talked about uno, here's another related word that's handy to know. It's a word you can guess one meaning of because it looks similar to an English word you know.
Oggi Matera è un sito unico al mondo...
Today, Matera is a site that's unique in the world...
Caption 46, Meraviglie - EP. 1 - Part 11
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So when you want to say something is unique, now you know how. Don't forget that the adjective unico has to agree with its noun. You have four possible endings to choose from: unico, unica, unici, uniche.
One way Italians like to use unico is to give someone a certain kind of compliment (which can be ironic, too).
Augusto, sei unico.
Augusto, you're one of a kind.
Caption 34, La Ladra - Ep. 6 - Nero di rabbia
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Again, if you are saying this to a girl or woman, you will want to use unica.
Maria, sei unica!
Maria, you're special!
But the main way Italians use the word unico is to mean "only."
È l'unico modo che ho per sdebitarmi.
It's the only way I have to settle my debt.
Caption 25, La Ladra - EP. 8 - Il momento giusto
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Questa scuola è l'unica cosa che ho.
This school is the only thing I have.
Caption 5, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP5 - Mondo sommerso
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E saremo gli unici al mondo ad avere qualcosa di simile.
And we'll be the only ones in the world to have something like this.
Caption 18, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep.2
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Tutte le volte che veniva a pregare per le uniche persone che amava.
Every time she came to pray for the only people she loved.
Caption 17, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP10 - Un morto di troppo
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If you travel to Italy and go clothes shopping, here's something you will definitely see on the racks or on a label.
taglia unica (one size fits all).
The noun La taglia comes from the verb tagliare (to cut).
The other very important expression with unico is what you might see while driving your macchina a noleggio (rental car).
una strada a senso unico (a one way street)
People also just call a one way street:
un senso unico (a one way street)
In these last two examples, we could say that unico stands for "one." The important thing is to understand what it means in the situation. You don't want to drive the wrong way down a road!
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]).
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.
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