How and when to use "ne" in Italian

In this lesson I'm gonna explain how and when to use "ne" in Italian.

In the past, many people who learned Italian as a foreign language asked me what "ne" means and how to use this particle. On the whole, it seems to me that this word causes much trouble to those learning Italian as a second language.

If you have trouble understanding what the prononominal particle "ne" means and how to use it, you've come to the right place!

In this lesson, in fact, I'm gonna give you some practical examples to help you understand how to use "ne".

I prefer to start from real-world sentences, rather than from an abstract definition. I don't think that it is particularly useful to give an abstract definition of things such as the particle "ne", the particle "ci", articles, prepositions and so on.

By contrast, I believe it's more useful to jump straight into example sentences and explain how to understand "ne" in each sentence.

So in this video I'm gonna give you some examples with different usages of the pronominal particle NE. And please notice that I said "Ti farò degli esempi" and not "Ti creerò degli esempi", as some Italian language instructors say.

The first example could be this: "Ascolta, non parlarmi più di questa cosa. Non ne voglio più parlare".

What does "Non ne voglio più parlare" mean? It means: I don't want to talk about this anymore, I don't want to talk about this topic anymore. So in this sentence "ne" stands for: about this, about this topic. And the reference is clearly to what was being discussed in the previous sentences.

What's the difference between the sentence "Non voglio più parlare" and the sentence "Non ne voglio più parlare"?

"Non voglio parlare" is a generic sentence, I don't specify a topic about which I don't want to talk. In general, I don't want to talk.

By contrast, if I use NE, I do specify a topic, I specify what I don't want to talk about. In particular, "ne" stands for: about this, about this topic. And the reference is clearly to something discussed earlier.

Another example sentence could be this: "Ascolta, non parlarmi di Laura. Non ne voglio più parlare".

What does it mean? I don't want to talk about that anymore. Given that the reference in the previous sentence was to Laura, it means: I don't want to talk about her anymore, I don't want to talk about Laura anymore. As you can see, in this case "ne" can be clarified as: about Laura or about her.

Given that it is an invariable pronominal particle, NE never changes. So it always remains "ne", irrespective of the fact that the subject is masculine or feminine.

Another example sentence with "ne" could be this: "Va bene, il tuo progetto mi piace. Ne parlerò con il direttore".

What does it mean? I will talk with the director about this. Given that in the previous sentence the reference was to the project, "ne" means: about this project. I will speak with the director about this project.

Another example could be this: "Non so come sia andato il progetto. I miei colleghi non me ne hanno più parlato".

What does it mean? My colleagues didn't talk anymore about the project.

I'm gonna give you another example!

"Vorrei sapere qual è la tua opinione su questa video-lezione. Cosa ne pensi?"

How should you understand the word NE in this sentence? It should be understood this way: What do you think about that? (question mark)

Some people, instead of saying "Cosa ne pensi?", say "Che ne pensi?". But they clearly mean the same. This sentence is used to ask someone what they think about something.

I'm gonna give you another example with "ne" used in a similar fashion!

- Non trovo il mio orologio. Per caso l'hai spostato tu?

- No, non ne so niente.

What does it mean? I don't know anything about that, I know nothing about this thing.

Anyways, let's move on to the second usage of the word "ne", which is slightly different.

The first example sentence could be: "Questi dolci mi piacciono un sacco. Ne vorrei altri".

What does "ne" mean in this sentence? I would like more such candies, that is, "vorrei altri dolci". In this case, "ne" doesn't replace an object, but it has a partitive function, so to speak.

Another example sentence could be this: "Quel dolce sembra molto buono. Ne vorrei un po'!"

What does it mean? I would like some cake (a bit of that cake).

Something which I'd like to point out is that in this case you must use "ne", because if you don't use "ne" and just say "Quel dolce sembra molto buono. Vorrei un po'", the sentence is ungrammatical.

In addition, in case there's no reference to the cake, and you just say "Vorrei un po'", the other person will naturally ask themselves: of what? That is, a bit of what?

In other words, this sentence is not complete without the particle "ne".

I'm gonna give you another example!

- Per caso hai dei soldi da prestarmi?

- No, non ne ho.

Another example could be this:

- Hai molti amici?

- No, non ne ho molti.

Another example sentence with the particle NE could be:

- Conosci tante persone?

- No, ne conosco poche.

What does it mean? I know few people. Like I said, in this case "ne" has a partitive function.

Another example could be this: "Questa è la tua unica possibilità. Non ne vedo altre".

Another example sentence could be this:

- Quante pagine hai letto?

- Ne ho lette 30.

What does it mean? I have read 30 pages. That is, I have read 30 (of this thing). Given that we were talking about pages, I have read 30 pages.

Another example could be this:

- Quanti panini vuole?

- Me ne dia 5.

What does it mean? Please give me 5 bread rolls. That is, please give me 5 units (of this). Given that the reference was to rolls, please give me 5 rolls.

Another example sentence could be:

- Quante birre ci sono nel frigo?

- Ce ne sono sette.

What does it mean? There are seven beers. That is, there are seven units (of this item). Given that the reference was to beers, there are 7 beers.

Another example sentence could be: "Non riesco a portarli tutti, sono troppo pesanti. Ne prendo solo quattro".

What does it mean? I'm gonna take four of these objects.

So, well, as we have seen, the particle NE can also have a partitive function and be used in reference to a quantity.

Well, I hope that these examples have helped you understand the most common usages of the particle "ne" - And here comes the train...

I hope that these examples helped you understand the most common uses of the particle NE.

I understand that, for someone who is not a native speaker, using this word is quite difficult.

My advice is to watch this video multiple times, so that your brain can implicitly learn the pattern of sentences in which we use "ne". Listening to the video several times, your brain will figure out when and how to use "ne" and what are the most common usages of this particle.

In my opinion, in order to learn how to correctly use small words such as "ne", "ci", articles, prepositions, listening is paramount.

If you have trouble with the particle CI as well, some time ago I made a video lesson where I explain it in detail. Up here I'm gonna add a card to my lesson about the word "ci". You might wanna click on it and check it out!

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And may the Force of the Italian language be with you!