Italian Chi… Chi…: Some People, Others (B2 Guide)

🔍 In short. The italian chi chi some others pattern, also called the italian chi distributive, is how Italian says “some people… others…” in one tight breath: chi rideva, chi piangeva means “some were laughing, others were crying”. The pronoun stays invariable, the verb stays in the third person singular, and the repetition does all the work of dividing a group into contrasting parts. You will hear it in a station waiting room, read it on a culture page, and meet it in proverbs like a chi troppo, a chi niente. This B2 guide unpacks the construction, contrasts it with interrogative chi, lines it up against alcuni… altri… and c’è chi…, and shows where English speakers slip.

Get the italian chi chi some others pattern under your belt and a whole register of compact, slightly literary Italian opens up: the kind native speakers reach for when they want to paint a scene in two strokes instead of a sentence and a half.

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What the italian chi distributive really is

Sit on a bench in any Italian station waiting room for ten minutes and a sentence like this writes itself in your head: chi leggeva, chi guardava il telefono, chi fissava il binario. That is the italian chi distributive in its natural home. The same pronoun chi repeats, each repetition introduces a different sub-group of an implicit larger set, and English needs two or three extra words to catch what Italian packs into eight.

The construction belongs to a family the Italian grammatical tradition calls pronomi distributivi: words that spread a quality or action across the members of a group taken one by one. The italian chi distributive is the most compact member of that family, because it carries both the “some” and the “others” inside a single short word, repeated.

• Chi rideva, chi piangeva.
  Some were laughing, others crying.
• In sala lettura della biblioteca civica chi sfogliava un quotidiano, chi prendeva appunti su un manuale, chi seguiva una conferenza in cuffia.
  In the public-library reading room some were leafing through a newspaper, some taking notes on a textbook, others following a lecture through headphones.
• Davanti al museo archeologico di Cagliari chi prenotava il biglietto sul telefono, chi chiedeva sconti allo sportello, chi aspettava semplicemente che aprissero.
  In front of the archaeological museum of Cagliari some were booking tickets on their phone, some asking for discounts at the counter, others just waiting for it to open.

Notice the rhythm of the italian chi distributive: a single setting (the bench, the waiting room, the language they were ordering at the counter), then two or three chi + verb chunks that split the scene. The italian chi distributive is not a relative pronoun and not an interrogative. It is an indefinite pronoun with a built-in correlative function.

The chi… chi… pattern, slot by slot

The skeleton of the italian chi distributive is simple and rigid: chi + verb (or noun phrase), comma, chi + verb (or noun phrase), repeatable as many times as the scene needs. The most common scaffolding uses two or three slots, occasionally four.

• Al mercato di San Benedetto chi contrattava sul prezzo del pesce, chi assaggiava un pezzo di pecorino, chi compilava la lista della spesa accanto al banco.
  At the San Benedetto market some were haggling over the price of fish, some tasting a piece of pecorino, others writing their shopping list next to the stall.
• Tra i pendolari del primo treno chi ascoltava un podcast in cuffia, chi rileggeva gli appunti per un esame, chi fissava il vuoto ancora addormentato.
  Among the commuters on the first train some were listening to a podcast through headphones, some rereading notes for an exam, others staring blankly, still half asleep.
• All’edicola di piazza Yenne chi comprava un quotidiano locale, chi prendeva una rivista di viaggi, chi chiedeva solo il biglietto della lotteria.
  At the newsstand in piazza Yenne some were buying the local paper, some picking up a travel magazine, others just asking for a lottery ticket.

The first chunk does not need to be introduced by anything special: a comma or a colon after a scene-setter is enough. The pattern is even tighter when the verb is shared and only the complement changes, as in ordinavano tutti qualcosa di forte, chi un caffè ristretto, chi un amaro. Italian elides the second ordinava entirely. English usually keeps it (“some ordered an espresso, others an amaro”) or uses a parallel “with some…, others…” construction.

How it differs from interrogative chi

Interrogative chi opens a question and means “who”: chi è?, chi ha chiamato?, chi viene con me al mercato?. The italian chi distributive looks identical but works in the opposite direction: it does not ask, it asserts. Two giveaways tell them apart instantly.

• Punctuation and intonation. Interrogative chi ends in a question mark in writing and a rising contour in speech. Distributive chi sits inside a statement, with a flat or list-like contour.
• Repetition. Interrogative chi appears once at the start of a clause. Distributive chi always shows up at least twice (occasionally three or four times) inside the same sentence.

Compare:

• Chi ha prenotato il tavolo per stasera?
  Who booked the table for tonight? (interrogative)
• Alla cena di ieri chi ha portato una bottiglia di Cannonau, chi un dolce sardo dalla pasticceria, chi solo gli aneddoti del viaggio in Sicilia.
  At yesterday’s dinner some brought a bottle of Cannonau, some a Sardinian dessert from the bakery, others only the anecdotes from their trip to Sicily. (distributive)

Verb agreement: always third person singular

This is the rule that catches English speakers every time. Even though the italian chi distributive describes a group of people, the verb after each chi stays in the third person singular. The pronoun is morphologically singular, and Italian grammar agrees with the form, not with the implied plural meaning.

• Chi ride, chi piange.
  Some laugh, others cry. (not chi ridono)
• Alla degustazione di Cannonau chi annusava il calice con calma, chi confrontava le annate sul taccuino, chi beveva e basta senza tanti commenti.
  At the Cannonau tasting some were sniffing the glass slowly, some comparing vintages in a notebook, others just drinking without commentary.
• Dopo lo spegnimento improvviso della corrente chi accendeva la torcia del telefono, chi cercava una candela in cucina, chi rideva al buio aspettando che tornasse la luce.
  After the sudden power cut some switched on their phone torch, some looked for a candle in the kitchen, others laughed in the dark waiting for the power to come back.

The same singular rule holds for the generic relative use of chi (chi cerca trova = “he who seeks finds”). The distributive simply applies that same agreement twice in a row. Past participles and adjectives in the same clause also default to masculine singular unless the context strongly suggests otherwise: chi è arrivato presto, chi è arrivato tardi.

C’è chi… : the everyday cousin

A close relative of the italian chi distributive is the construction c’è chi… (e) c’è chi…, “there are people who… and there are people who…”. It is everywhere in newspaper opinion pieces, in podcast monologues, on social media. The mechanics are the same (singular è, singular verb after each chi) but a presentational c’è (“there is”) sits in front of each chunk.

• C’è chi pensa che la riforma della scuola sia un’occasione storica, c’è chi la considera l’ennesima toppa, c’è chi non sa neppure che è stata approvata.
  There are people who see the school reform as a historic chance, others who consider it just another patch, and others still who don’t even know it’s been passed.
• C’è chi al museo entra per le mostre temporanee, c’è chi viene solo per il caffè della terrazza.
  At the museum some come for the temporary exhibitions, others only for the coffee on the terrace.
• C’è chi arriva al porto un’ora prima dell’imbarco, c’è chi corre lungo la banchina mentre il personale sta già ritirando la passerella.
  Some arrive at the port an hour before boarding, others run along the quay while the crew is already pulling up the gangway.

The c’è chi version is slightly less compact than the bare italian chi distributive, but it is the form most people use in unscripted speech. Italian textbooks sometimes label it presentational because c’è introduces a new referent each time, the way English uses “there are people who”. When you want to sound conversational, prefer c’è chi… c’è chi…; when you want a tighter, more literary effect, drop the c’è.

Alcuni… altri… vs chi… chi…

The longer, fully transparent alternative to the italian chi distributive is alcuni… altri…, “some… others…”. The two constructions overlap in meaning but differ in register, agreement, and feel.

• Alla riunione di condominio alcuni protestavano per le bollette del riscaldamento, altri proponevano un preventivo alternativo.
  At the building meeting some were protesting about the heating bills, others were suggesting an alternative quote.
• Alla riunione di condominio chi protestava per le bollette, chi proponeva un preventivo alternativo, chi taceva e guardava l’orologio.
  Same scene, tighter syntax, with one extra slot.

Three practical differences. First, alcuni and altri are plural pronouns, so the verb is plural (protestavano, proponevano); the italian chi distributive forces the singular. Second, alcuni… altri… sounds neutral and works in any register, while chi… chi… has a slight literary or vivid-scene flavour. Third, alcuni… altri… typically has only two slots; chi… chi… happily extends to three or four.

A subtler third option is qualcuno… qualcun altro…, “someone… someone else…”, which works when the contrast is between two individuals rather than two sub-groups: qualcuno ha lasciato il gas acceso, qualcun altro ha dimenticato di chiudere la finestra del bagno. With that one, agreement is again singular, and the focus narrows from “groups of people” to “this one person versus that one person”.

Register: spoken, written, literary

The italian chi distributive crosses all three registers without sounding out of place, but with subtle shifts in flavour. Where you place the italian chi distributive in a piece of writing tunes the voice as much as the meaning. In casual spoken Italian, c’è chi… c’è chi… dominates because it sounds presentational and friendly. In journalistic prose and opinion writing, both forms appear, often with three slots, to sketch a quick contrast: chi loda il libro, chi lo demolisce, chi non lo ha nemmeno aperto.

In literature the construction has a long pedigree. The Treccani dictionary cites the medieval author Sacchetti with chi dicea che fu Cimabue, chi Stefano, chi Bernardo, where three voices in a crowd attribute a painting to three different masters. The same shape pulses through nineteenth and twentieth century prose: a vivid scene-painter that lets a writer sweep a hand across a crowd in a single sentence.

One caution from the Treccani entry: when chi appears alone, without the repeated partner, with the sense of “qualcuno” (“someone”), the use is marked as antiquated in modern Italian. Verrà chi a chiederti l’ora for “someone will come to ask you the time” is old. The repeated, correlative italian chi distributive is alive and well; the lonely chi = “someone” is shelved with the nineteenth-century novels.

With prepositions: a chi… a chi…, da chi… da chi…

The italian chi distributive accepts prepositions just like any other pronoun. The preposition repeats with each slot, and the meaning shifts from “some did X, others did Y” to “to some, X; to others, Y” or “from some, X; from others, Y”.

• A chi piacciono i romanzi storici, a chi solo i gialli, a chi nient’altro che le biografie.
  Some people like historical novels, others only crime fiction, others nothing but biographies.
• Da chi arrivavano cartoline da Lisbona, da chi solo messaggi vocali frettolosi, da chi nemmeno un cenno per mesi.
  From some came postcards from Lisbon, from others only hurried voice messages, from others not a word for months.
• Con chi parlava di cinema e libri, con chi solo di lavoro e scadenze.
  With some he spoke about cinema and books, with others only about work and deadlines.

The most famous prepositional version is the proverb a chi troppo, a chi niente, “to some too much, to others nothing”. It captures with four words a complaint about how luck and resources are unevenly handed out. You will hear it shrugged off at a bar counter when somebody complains about an unfair break, and you will read it in editorials about inequality. The italian chi distributive is doing what it does best: compressing a whole social observation into a tight correlative.

Proverbs and fixed expressions

A handful of fixed expressions built on the italian chi distributive have crossed into everyday Italian, used so often they have lost the literary flavour the construction otherwise carries.

• Chi c’è, c’è. Chi non c’è, non c’è.
  Who’s here is here; who isn’t, isn’t. (= ready or not: said by a mother calling the family to dinner, or in hide-and-seek)
• C’è chi viene e chi va.
  People come and go. (= life goes on, things turn over)
• A chi troppo, a chi niente.
  To some too much, to others nothing. (= fortune is unfair)
• Chi dice una cosa, chi un’altra.
  Some say one thing, others another. (= nobody can agree)

Notice the rhythm in the first two: short, almost rhyming, with the second chi chunk shorter than the first. That asymmetry is part of the spoken charm. When you build your own italian chi distributive sentence, do not feel obliged to make the two slots the same length: Italian speakers actively prefer the contrast.

Cheat sheet

One table, the whole italian chi distributive system. Keep it open while you build your next sentence.

Form	Function	Register	Example
chi… chi…	distributive, tight	written, vivid	chi rideva, chi piangeva
c’è chi… c’è chi…	presentational, everyday	spoken, neutral	c’è chi parte, c’è chi resta
alcuni… altri…	fully explicit, plural	any register	alcuni partono, altri restano
qualcuno… qualcun altro…	two individuals	spoken, narrative	qualcuno ha chiamato, qualcun altro ha scritto
a chi… a chi…	distributive with preposition	spoken and written	a chi troppo, a chi niente
chi (alone) = qualcuno	old “someone”	antiquated	verrà chi a cercarti (dated)

Mistakes English speakers make

Three slips with the italian chi distributive flag a B2 sentence as written by a learner. All three are fast to fix once you spot them.

Mistake 1. Putting the verb in the plural. Wrong: chi ridevano, chi piangevano. Correct: chi rideva, chi piangeva. The italian chi distributive looks plural in meaning but is singular in form, so the verb stays in the third person singular every time.

Mistake 2. Using chi only once. Wrong: chi rideva, alcuni piangevano. Correct: chi rideva, chi piangeva or alcuni ridevano, altri piangevano. You cannot mix the two systems: either repeat chi with singular verbs, or use the alcuni/altri pair with plural verbs throughout.

Mistake 3. Adding “che” out of habit. Wrong: chi che rideva, chi che piangeva. Correct: chi rideva, chi piangeva. English speakers sometimes hear chi as “those who” and try to insert a che after it; the italian chi distributive needs none, since the verb comes directly after the pronoun.

Dialog: a wait at the Cagliari ferry terminal

Stefania and Lorenzo wait for the night ferry from Cagliari to Civitavecchia. Departure has been delayed an hour. They watch the waiting room fill up. Notice how often the italian chi distributive surfaces in their natural Italian.

Count the italian chi distributive structures: about a dozen, in a four-minute exchange. The italian chi distributive feels right at home in a station scene like this one. They land naturally because Stefania and Lorenzo are describing scenes with people doing different things at the same time, exactly the situation the construction was built for. Try it the next time you describe a queue, a waiting room, or a busy market.

Test your understanding

Take the quiz below to test what you’ve learned about the italian chi distributive pattern.

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Frequently asked questions

Six questions about the italian chi distributive come up in every B2 cohort. The answers below also draw on the Treccani entry on the pronoun chi, which traces the construction from Sacchetti to modern usage.

Related guides

Three guides that pair with the italian chi distributive, plus an institutional reference on the pronoun chi. Each one extends a corner of the italian chi distributive into a related area of Italian grammar.

• Italian Relative Pronouns: Che, Cui, Il Quale, Whose: the full chi-as-relative system that the distributive pattern grows out of.
• Italian Indefinite Adjectives and Pronouns: the broader family of indefinites including alcuni, altri, qualcuno.
• Italian Costui, Colui, Coloro: the literary alternatives colui che, colei che, coloro che that mark gender and number where chi stays invariable.
• Treccani: Chi (pronome): institutional entry on the pronoun, including the distributive correlative usage with literary citations.