Italian · Chapter 3 · Lesson 15 · Grammar primer
C'è and ci sono: there is, there are
C'è for one thing, ci sono for more, and non c'è for none. The first sentence of half the conversations you will have.
The short version
C'è is for one, ci sono is for more
To say there is or there are, look at the noun that comes after the verb. One thing, or something you cannot count, takes c'è. A number or a plural takes ci sono. The verb agrees with what follows it, so the order of the sentence makes no difference.
Ci sono tre ragazzi.
C'è says it exists, è describes it
Both c'è and è translate as is, but they do different jobs. Use c'è when something exists or is available, and è when you describe or locate something you already know about. If the English starts with there is, you almost always want c'è.
C'è un bar qui vicino?
That's the gist. The full article goes deeper - more examples, the edge cases, the why - and the practice below scores like a vocabulary session and earns the same XP.
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