I verbi pronominali: andarsene, farcela, cavarsela
I verbi pronominali: andarsene, farcela, cavarsela means “Verbs fused with ci/ne/la whose meaning you can't guess from the parts”. Italian has a set of verbs that bundle in the little words ci, ne, la (or a combination) and take on a meaning you can't work out from the pieces. Formation: verbo + ci/ne/la fusi, significato non deducibile — andarsene: me ne vado · farcela (riuscire): ce la faccio · cavarsela (arrangiarsi): me la cavo · avercela con (essere arrabbiato): ce l'ho con — passato: me ne sono andato (essere)
Verbs fused with ci/ne/la whose meaning you can't guess from the parts
B1Formation
verbo + ci/ne/la fusi, significato non deducibile — andarsene: me ne vado · farcela (riuscire): ce la faccio · cavarsela (arrangiarsi): me la cavo · avercela con (essere arrabbiato): ce l'ho con — passato: me ne sono andato (essere)
Explanation
Italian has a set of verbs that bundle in the little words ci, ne, la (or a combination) and take on a meaning you can't work out from the pieces. The most common: andarsene = to leave/go away (me ne vado, te ne vai, se ne va); farcela = to manage / succeed (ce la faccio, non ce la faccio più = I can't take it anymore); cavarsela = to get by / manage (me la cavo bene); avercela con qualcuno = to be angry at someone (ce l'ho con te). The clitics stay fixed (ce la, me ne) but the verb conjugates and the reflexive part agrees with the subject: me ne vado / te ne vai / ce ne andiamo. In compound tenses andarsene and cavarsela take essere, and the participle agrees: me ne sono andata, se l'è cavata.
Examples
Note
Learn each of these as a whole unit — don't translate ci/ne/la literally. farcela and cavarsela are especially common in speech. Spanish has irse (= andarsene) but no direct match for the la-verbs; treat them as vocabulary, not grammar to reconstruct.
FAQ
I verbi pronominali: andarsene, farcela, cavarsela — what does it mean and how is it used?
Verbs fused with ci/ne/la whose meaning you can't guess from the parts. Italian has a set of verbs that bundle in the little words ci, ne, la (or a combination) and take on a meaning you can't work out from the pieces. The most common: andarsene = to leave/go away (me ne vado, te ne vai, se ne va); farcela = to manage / succeed (ce la faccio, non ce la faccio più = I can't take it anymore); cavarsela = to get by / manage (me la cavo bene); avercela con qualcuno = to be angry at someone (ce l'ho con te). The clitics stay fixed (ce la, me ne) but the verb conjugates and the reflexive part agrees with the subject: me ne vado / te ne vai / ce ne andiamo. In compound tenses andarsene and cavarsela take essere, and the participle agrees: me ne sono andata, se l'è cavata.
I verbi pronominali: andarsene, farcela, cavarsela — how do you form it?
verbo + ci/ne/la fusi, significato non deducibile — andarsene: me ne vado · farcela (riuscire): ce la faccio · cavarsela (arrangiarsi): me la cavo · avercela con (essere arrabbiato): ce l'ho con — passato: me ne sono andato (essere)
I verbi pronominali: andarsene, farcela, cavarsela — any usage notes?
Learn each of these as a whole unit — don't translate ci/ne/la literally. farcela and cavarsela are especially common in speech. Spanish has irse (= andarsene) but no direct match for the la-verbs; treat them as vocabulary, not grammar to reconstruct.