C'è and Ci sono: there is and there are in Italian

Level: A1. To say something exists or is present — there is a book, there are two chairs — Italian uses two short set phrases: c’è and ci sono. Which one you pick depends only on how many things there are.

The rule

Both phrases are built from ci (here/there) plus the verb essere (to be):

• c’è = ci + è (“there is”) — for one thing or an uncountable idea.
• ci sono = ci + sono (“there are”) — for two or more things.

The apostrophe in c’è simply shows that ci has dropped its i before the vowel è. The accent on è matters: è (with accent) is the verb “is”; e (no accent) means “and”.

You choose based on the noun that follows, not on the English wording. English often says “there’s” even for plurals in speech (“there’s two left”), but Italian always switches to ci sono for more than one.

The forms at a glance

Example sentences

Common mistakes

• ❌ C’è due libri → ✅ Ci sono due libri. Two or more things need ci sono.
• ❌ Ci sono un problema → ✅ C’è un problema. One thing needs c’è.
• ❌ Ce un libro → ✅ C’è un libro. Keep the apostrophe and the accent: c’è.
• ❌ Non c’è non problemi → ✅ Non ci sono problemi. One non is enough, and plural takes ci sono.
• ❌ C’è molta gente → ci sono (thinking “people” is plural) → ✅ C’è molta gente. Gente is grammatically singular in Italian.

A short conversation

In albergo: — Buongiorno, c’è una camera libera? — Sì, ci sono due camere al secondo piano. — Perfetto. C’è il wifi? — Certo, e non c’è nessun supplemento.

Usage notes

• c’è with uncountables: water, time, bread and similar take c’è because they are treated as one mass: c’è acqua, c’è pane.
• Tricky nouns: gente (people) is singular → c’è; novità (news) is plural in form → ci sono. Learn these with the right phrase.
• Not the same as “it is”: c’è states that something exists or is present; to describe what something is (it is big), use plain essere: è grande.

A worked example

Imagine you walk into a café and want to describe what you see. One counter, so c’è un bancone. Three free tables, so ci sono tre tavoli liberi. No menu in English, so non c’è un menù in inglese. Notice how every phrase is decided purely by counting the Italian noun: singular or mass nouns pull c’è, while anything you could count past one pulls ci sono. Say the whole scene aloud and the switch becomes automatic.

Compared with…

• essere (to be) — c’è and ci sono are made from è and sono, two forms of essere. For the full present tense and how to say what something is, see the verb essere in the present.
• Articles — the noun after c’è/ci sono usually carries an article; review definite articles and indefinite articles to get il/la and un/una right.

Quick recap before the quiz.

Practice

Quiz

Recap cheat-sheet

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