How to Use Pensare with Ci, Ne & Lo

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Pensare is a commonly used verb that means “to think” and can be used with the particles Ne & Ci and the object pronoun Lo in certain situations.

Pensare with Ne

 Ne is a particle used to talk about quantity or when saying “about him/her/it/them” or “of him/her/it/them.” It is commonly used with Pensare when giving your opinion on something.

For example:

• Cosa pensi di questa strada?

  • What do you think about this street?

• Cosa ne pensi?

  • What do you think about it?

 In the example above, the particle Ne is used to replace “di questa strada,” the thing that you are being asked to give your opinion on.

It is very common in Italian to say the following:

• Cosa ne pensi di questa strada?

  • What do you think about this street?

  • Literally: What do you think about it, this street?

This phenomenon in Italian is referred to as a “pleonasmo,” or a redundancy, where you unnecessarily use a pronoun or particle. As Ne is something that is supposed to be used only once it is understood what you want an opinion on, whether it is implied or explicitly stated, it would be unnecessary to use it if you later say in the same sentence what it is you want an opinion on. However, this redundancy is pervasive amongst Italian speakers that you would most likely never be corrected if you chose to speak this way as well.

Pensare with Lo

Pensare can be used with an object pronoun, such as Lo when you want to say that you “think something” or even “think so.”

 In most situations, you can say:

• penso di sì when saying “I think so;” and

• penso di no when saying “I don’t think so” or “I think not.”

However, one could translate lo penso as “I think so” as well in certain situations. For example:

• Penso che tu sia bravo/a!

  • I think you’re great! (as in skilled)

• Lo penso davvero!

  • I really think it/so!

In this context, Lo is being used to replace the simple idea in the first sentence, that you think someone is great or skilled at what they do. 

Pensare with Ci

 Pensare is used with the particle Ci when talking about larger ideas that Lo. Another way of thinking about it is that Ci will replace something in a sentence that begins with the preposition a or di.

In a functional sense, both Ci and Ne replace something after Pensare that follows the preposition di, however, the big difference lies in whether we are referring to one’s opinion or not. That is the key distinction between the two: Ne is for opinions and Ci is not.

 Here is an example in context:

• Pensi di venire in Italia? / Stai pensando di venire in Italia?

  • Are you thinking about coming to Italy?

• Ci penso sempre!

  • I think about it all the time!

• Penso sempre a quando correvo nei prati di questa bella città!

  • I think all the time about when I used to run through the fields/meadows of this beautiful city!

• Ci penso sempre!

  • I always think about it!

As we can see in both of these examples, Ci is being used to replace the idea that follows the prepositions a and di, and in neither of the two examples is an opinion being asked. That is the key difference between Ci and Ne in these situations with Pensare.

CI & NE used redundantly

Similar to Ne, it is common among speakers of Italian to use Ci redundantly, for example:

• Ci pensi mai a quando hai studiato all’estero in Italia nel 2018?

  • Do you ever think about when you studied abroad in Italy in 2018?

• Ma certo, ci penso ogni giorno!

  • Of course, I think about it every day!

•  E cosa ne pensi di quell’esperienza?

  • And what do you think about that experience?

•  Penso che sia stata una bellissima esperienza!

  • I think it was a great experience!

Always remember to spread the love!