Reference

The Pronoun Ne

"Of it / of them" — required in Italian, silent in English.

The pattern

(non) + ne + verb

Quantities

Quanti ne vuole?How many would you like?
Ne prendo due.I'll take two.
Ne vorrei un po'.I'd like a little.
Non ne voglio.I don't want any.
Non ne ho più.I don't have any more.

Ce n'è / ce ne sono

Ce n'è ancora?Is there still some? (singular)
Sì, ce n'è.Yes, there's some.
Non ce n'è più.There isn't any more.
Ce ne sono sei.There are six. (plural)

"About it/them"

Che ne pensi?What do you think about it?
Ne parliamo dopo.We'll talk about it later.

Named exception: participle agreement with ne

Definite quantity → participle agrees in gender/number with the noun ne replaces:

Ne ho bevuti tre.I drank three (of them). (masc. pl., agreeing with caffè)
Ne ho lette venti.I read twenty. (fem. pl., agreeing with pagine)

Indefinite quantity ("some") → no agreement, participle defaults masculine singular: "Ne ho comprato" (of fruit — frutta is feminine, but comprato stays masc. sing.). Container agreement is the odd exception: "Ne ho bevuti tre bicchieri" agrees with bicchieri, not the drink.

Coming later

Ne can also stand in for "from there" (a place) — rarer, more literary.


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