TL;DR. Italian pronominal verbs fuse a base verb with clitic pronouns (la, ne, ci, si) to create idiomatic meanings. Farcela = succeed, fregarsene = not care, andarsene = leave. This B1/B2 guide covers the three families, position rules, 12 common pronominals, and five traps for English speakers.
Cosa impareremo oggi
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- The rule: italian pronominal verbs in one line
- Family 1: idioms with feminine LA
- Family 2: idioms with NE (andarsene, fregarsene)
- Family 3: idioms with CI (avercela, vederci)
- Position: clitics with modals, imperative, infinitive
- Five traps for English speakers
- Cheat sheet: 12 most common pronominal verbs
- Dialogue at a Trastevere cafe
- Frequently asked questions
The rule: italian pronominal verbs in one line
An italian pronominal verb is a base verb plus one or two attached clitic pronouns whose combined meaning is idiomatic and not deducible from the parts. Fare means to do; farcela (fare + ce + la) means to succeed. Andare means to go; andarsene (andare + se + ne) means to leave.
The clitics la, ne, ci, si are still there but no longer point to anything: they have fused with the verb to make a new lexical unit. The verb conjugates normally; the clitics travel with it.
Italian pronominal verbs split into three families: idioms with feminine la (farcela, smetterla, prendersela), idioms with ne (andarsene, fregarsene), and idioms with ci (avercela, vederci). Italians use them constantly in everyday conversation.
Family 1: idioms with feminine LA
The feminine direct-object pronoun la appears in many fixed verbs without referring to a specific feminine noun. The la is decorative, fossilised, untranslatable. The most useful members:
🔍 Observe:
- farcela (succeed, manage): non ce la faccio più con questo lavoro. I cannot cope with this job any more.
- cavarsela (get by): in inglese me la cavo abbastanza bene. I get by reasonably well in English.
- smetterla (stop, knock it off): la vuoi smettere di interrompermi? Will you stop interrupting me?
- prendersela (take offence): non te la prendere, era uno scherzo. Don’t take it personally, it was a joke.
- sentirsela (feel up to): non me la sento di guidare stasera. I don’t feel up to driving tonight.
- godersela (have a great time): in vacanza se la godono sempre. On holiday they always have a great time.
🎯 Mini-Challenge: idioms with LA
- 1. Translate: “Don’t take it personally, the boss is in a bad mood today.”
- 2. Translate: “I really cannot cope with this exam any more.”
- 3. Translate: “On holiday in Sardinia we had a great time.”
Show answers
- Non te la prendere, il capo oggi è di cattivo umore.
- Non ce la faccio proprio più con questo esame.
- In vacanza in Sardegna ce la siamo goduta.
Family 2: idioms with NE (andarsene, fregarsene)
The pronoun ne normally points to a quantity or a partitive (ne ho due = I have two of them). In pronominal verbs it loses that role and fuses with the base verb plus the reflexive se. The most frequent are motion verbs that gain a sense of departure or staying-put, plus a small set of attitude verbs.
🔍 Observe:
- andarsene (leave, go away): è tardi, me ne vado a casa. It’s late, I’m off home.
- starsene (stay, remain): la domenica se ne sta sul divano tutto il giorno. On Sundays he stays on the sofa all day long.
- fregarsene (not care): me ne frego di quello che dice la gente. I do not care about what people say.
- tornarsene (return, go back): dopo la festa se ne è tornata dai genitori. After the party she went back to her parents.
- aspettarsela (expect, see coming) : uses NE+LA: questa decisione, proprio non me la aspettavo. I really did not see this decision coming.
🎯 Mini-Challenge: idioms with NE
- 1. Conjugate (fregarsene, present, all 6 persons).
- 2. Translate: “After dinner I am going home.”
- 3. Translate: “We did not see this defeat coming.”
Show answers
- Io me ne frego, tu te ne freghi, lui/lei se ne frega, noi ce ne freghiamo, voi ve ne fregate, loro se ne fregano.
- Dopo cena me ne vado a casa.
- Questa sconfitta, non ce la aspettavamo.
Family 3: idioms with CI (avercela, vederci)
The clitic ci in pronominal verbs sometimes keeps a faint sense of “in/at it” but more often is fully fossilised. Avercela con means to hold a grudge; vederci and sentirci mean to have functional sight or hearing (different from vedere and sentire which can be transitive). Volerci means to take, to be needed.
🔍 Observe:
- avercela con qualcuno (be annoyed with): da una settimana ce l’ha con me e non capisco perché. For a week he has been annoyed with me and I do not understand why.
- vederci (be able to see): senza occhiali non ci vedo niente. Without my glasses I cannot see a thing.
- sentirci (be able to hear): da quell’orecchio non ci sente. He cannot hear from that ear.
- volerci (be needed, take): per fare bene questo lavoro ci vogliono almeno tre giorni. This job needs at least three days.
- metterci (take, of duration): ci ho messo due ore per finire il compito. It took me two hours to finish the homework.
🎯 Mini-Challenge: idioms with CI
- 1. Translate: “How long does it take by train from Rome to Bologna?”
- 2. Translate: “He has been annoyed with us for two days.”
- 3. Translate: “I cannot see well in this light.”
Show answers
- Quanto ci vuole in treno da Roma a Bologna? (or ci si mette, more colloquial)
- Da due giorni ce l’ha con noi.
- Con questa luce non ci vedo bene.
Position: clitics with modals, imperative, infinitive
Pronominal verbs follow the standard clitic placement rules. With a finite verb in present, imperfect, future, or conditional, the clitics go before the verb (proclitic): ce la faccio, me la sentivo, se ne andranno, te la prenderesti.
With infinitive, gerund, and informal imperative (tu/voi/noi) the clitics attach to the end (enclitic) and form a single word: farcela, sentendomela, andatevene, prenditela comoda.
With modal verbs (dovere, potere, volere, sapere) plus a pronominal infinitive, the clitics have two equally valid positions: before the modal or attached to the infinitive. Both register the same meaning. Mi ce la devo fare is wrong: only the cluster moves, not parts of it.
🔍 Observe (proclitic vs enclitic):
- Finite verb (proclitic): ce la facciamo. Infinitive (enclitic): dobbiamo farcela. We can manage / we must succeed.
- Imperative tu (enclitic): vattene! Get out! Imperative formal Lei (proclitic, separate): se ne vada! Leave, please.
- Modal: due posizioni: me la voglio godere = voglio godermela. I want to enjoy it.
- Compound tense: clitics SEMPRE prima dell’ausiliare: se ne è andato, mai è andatosene. He has left.
- Past participle agreement with LA: la torta? me la sono mangiata tutta. The participle agrees with feminine la.
🎯 Mini-Challenge: position rules
- 1. Rewrite “voglio andarmene” with clitics before the modal.
- 2. Translate (informal imperative tu): “Get out of here!”
- 3. Past tense (passato prossimo, io feminine): “I really took it personally.”
Show answers
- Me ne voglio andare.
- Vattene (di qua)!
- Me la sono proprio presa. (participle agrees with feminine LA)
Five traps for English speakers
Trap 1: clitics are not optional
Faccio means I do; ce la faccio means I succeed. They are different verbs. Dropping the clitics changes the meaning entirely or breaks the sentence. The same applies to vado (I go) vs me ne vado (I leave).
Trap 2: compound tense uses ESSERE
Reflexive-pronominal verbs (those with si) take essere in compound tenses, with past participle agreement: me ne sono andato/a, se la sono goduta, ce l’hanno fatta. Note: with avercela, the auxiliary is avere (it is the only one based on avere).
Trap 3: past participle agreement with LA
When a pronominal contains feminine la, the past participle ends in -a (singular) or -e (plural): me la sono cavata, ce l’abbiamo fatta, se la sono goduta. Forgetting the agreement is the most frequent learner error.
Trap 4: register is informal-to-neutral
Italian pronominal verbs are everyday spoken italian. Fregarsene is colloquial and slightly rude in formal contexts. Andarsene is neutral and even appears in literature. Farcela, cavarsela, smetterla, prendersela, godersela sit comfortably in journalism and informal writing. Avoid fregarsene in business email or academic prose.
Trap 5: the cluster is atomic
You cannot split a pronominal cluster across words. Mi ce la devo fare is wrong because the cluster me la must move together with ce. Either everything goes before the modal (me la devo fare = ce la devo fare) or everything attaches to the infinitive (devo farcela). Mixing positions is ungrammatical.
Cheat sheet: 12 most common pronominal verbs
| Verb | Family | Meaning | Auxiliary |
|---|---|---|---|
| farcela | LA | to succeed, manage | avere (ce l’ho fatta) |
| cavarsela | LA + SI | to get by | essere |
| smetterla | LA | to stop, knock it off | avere |
| prendersela | LA + SI | to take offence | essere |
| sentirsela | LA + SI | to feel up to | essere |
| godersela | LA + SI | to have a great time | essere |
| andarsene | NE + SI | to leave, go away | essere |
| starsene | NE + SI | to stay, remain | essere |
| fregarsene | NE + SI | to not care | essere |
| aspettarsela | LA + SI | to expect, see coming | essere |
| avercela con | LA + CI | to be annoyed with | avere |
| volerci / metterci | CI | to take (time, effort) | volerci: essere; metterci: avere |
Dialogue at a Trastevere cafe
Sara meets her friend Luca for coffee. He has been quiet on the chat for a week.
- 👩🏻 Ciao Luca, da una settimana ce l’hai con me? Non rispondi nemmeno ai messaggi. Hi Luca, you have been annoyed with me for a week? You don’t even answer messages.
- 👨🏻🦱 No, scusami. Non te la prendere. Me ne sto a casa perché ho avuto la febbre. No, sorry. Don’t take it personally. I’m staying home because I had a fever.
- 👩🏻 Me la sono presa davvero, pensavo che fosse per il litigio di lunedì. I really took it personally, I thought it was about Monday’s argument.
- 👨🏻🦱 Ma figurati, di quel litigio me ne frego ormai. È acqua passata. Come on, I don’t care about that argument any more. It’s water under the bridge.
- 👩🏻 Ok. Quanto ci vuole per finire l’antibiotico? OK. How long does the antibiotic take to finish?
- 👨🏻🦱 Tre giorni ancora, poi ce la faccio a venire alla festa di sabato. Three more days, then I’ll manage to come to Saturday’s party.
- 👩🏻 Bene. Ora me ne vado in ufficio, sono in ritardo. Good. Now I’m off to the office, I’m late.
- 👨🏻🦱 Ciao, godetela la giornata, è splendida. Bye, enjoy the day, it’s beautiful.
🎯 Mini-Challenge: capstone
- 1. Translate: “Stop telling lies, I am leaving.”
- 2. Translate: “We did not see this result coming, but we managed.”
- 3. Translate: “It took me three hours to finish the report.”
Show answers
- Smettila di raccontare bugie, me ne vado.
- Questo risultato non ce lo aspettavamo, ma ce l’abbiamo fatta.
- Ci ho messo tre ore per finire il report. (or Ci sono volute tre ore per finire il report.)
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Further reading: Treccani: verbi pronominali.
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Frequently asked questions
What is an italian pronominal verb?
An italian pronominal verb is a base verb fused with one or two clitic pronouns (la, ne, ci, si) to create an idiomatic meaning. The pronouns lose their normal referential function and become part of the verb’s identity. Fare means to do; farcela means to succeed. The clitics are not optional and dropping them either changes the meaning or breaks the sentence.
Why does farcela have ce + la and what do they refer to?
In farcela the ce comes from ci (locative) and la is the feminine direct-object pronoun. Neither still refers to anything specific: they are fossilised inside the verb. Native speakers do not parse them; they treat farcela as a single lexical item. The same applies to fregarsene (se + ne), andarsene (se + ne), and avercela con (ce + la).
What is the difference between me ne frego and me ne frega?
Me ne frego is first person singular: I do not care. Me ne frega is third person singular used impersonally and almost always with niente or nothing: non me ne frega niente means I do not care at all. The two forms answer different syntactic structures: frego conjugates with a personal subject, frega is impersonal with a clausal subject (it does not bother me).
Where do clitics go with modal verbs and pronominal infinitives?
Two equally valid positions exist. Clitics before the modal: me la voglio godere, ce ne vogliamo andare. Clitics attached to the infinitive: voglio godermela, vogliamo andarcene. Both are correct and native speakers use both interchangeably. The cluster moves as a single unit: you cannot split me la or ce ne across words.
What is the past participle agreement rule with pronominal verbs?
When the pronominal cluster contains feminine la, the past participle ends in -a (singular feminine) or -e (plural feminine): ce l’abbiamo fatta, me la sono cavata, se la sono goduta. The agreement triggers regardless of subject gender because la itself is the feminine direct-object pronoun. Forgetting this agreement is the single most frequent learner error.
Which auxiliary do pronominal verbs take in compound tenses?
Most pronominals built with si take essere with subject agreement: me ne sono andato, ce la siamo cavata, se l’è goduta. Two notable exceptions take avere: avercela con (ce l’ho avuta con lui per due settimane) and farcela (ce l’ho fatta, ce l’abbiamo fatta). The split corresponds to whether the verb has the reflexive pronoun se in the lemma.
Are pronominal verbs formal or informal?
Most are neutral-to-informal and appear comfortably in journalism, fiction, and casual speech. Andarsene, farcela, cavarsela, prendersela, godersela work in any context except academic writing or business documents. Fregarsene is informal-to-rude and should be avoided in formal email, business meetings, or academic prose. The reduced form chissenefrega (who cares) is even stronger and is plainly colloquial.
How do I form the imperative of a pronominal verb?
In informal imperative (tu, noi, voi) the clitics attach to the end of the verb: vattene (go away, tu), andiamocene (let’s leave, noi), andatevene (leave, voi). In formal imperative (Lei) the clitics stay separate and go before the verb: se ne vada (please leave), si goda la giornata (enjoy your day). The same split applies to all pronominal verbs and mirrors the broader imperative-pronoun rule.
The agreement triggers regardless of subject gender because la itself is feminine. Forgetting this is the most frequent learner error.
Ciao,
Come si dice ”non ce l’aspettavamo” oppure ”non ce la aspettavamo” ?? che forma e corretta? Penso la seconda ma non ne sono sicuro.
Grazie in anticipo.
Si dice ”non ce l’aspettavamo” per il verbo “aspettarsela”. La forma “la aspettavamo” (aspettavamo lei) è accettabile solo per “aspettarla”, per distinguerla da “lo aspettavamo” in caso di ambiguità, ma la forma apostrofata è sicuramente più corretta. Ciao.
Ciao Riccardo, come vedi sto ripetendo questo esercizio. Ma non capisco perché ‘non ve la prendere’ nella terza frase è sbagliato, invece ‘non ve la prendete’ e coretto. Credevo che l’imperativo negativo va con l’infinitivo, come dici anche tu lassù ‘non te la prendere…’
Grazie
Ciao!
L’infinito si usa solo per “tu”. Non mangiare, non andare, non dormire, non te la prendere.
“Voi” si coniuga come il presente. Non mangiate, non andate, non dormite, non ve la prendete.
Ah! Si, certo! Grazie Riccardo.
Un buonissimo esercizio Riccardo. Ma sempre più difficile di quello che me la aspetto. Grazie
Grazie. Magari ne parliamo. Ciao.
These little blogs about grammar are so useful for me. I taught myself Italian, with the result that I have missed an awful lot of grammar. I can speak, write, read … but there’s a lot that I get wrong and a lot that I miss. These blogs will help me to become more fluent. Thank you!
Prego. Ciao.