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The particle ci is often used when replacing a prepositional phrase introduced by a [+ location].

Sei andato a Parigi questo weekend? No, non ci sono andato.

But why does the following example need the particle ne?

Sei andato al supermercato? Sì, ne sono appena uscito.

Does it have anything to do with the change in the verb uscire in the response, since uscire is often followed by di and ne usually replaces prepositional phrases that use di?

3
  • 1
    I had actually upvoted because of the creation of the tags ci and ne. The words are so problematic for me, that I thought it would make sense to keep them. Maybe for others isn't?
    – c.p.
    Commented Apr 4, 2015 at 10:15
  • @c.p.: I'm not sure about that. Maybe it's something to discuss in "Italian Language meta".
    – Charo
    Commented Apr 4, 2015 at 17:26
  • I've posed a question about these tags in Meta.
    – Charo
    Commented Apr 5, 2015 at 12:02

1 Answer 1

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In the first answer, ci is moto a luogo (motion to), whereas in the second answer ne is moto da luogo (motion from).

If you expand them, you get

No, non sono andato a Parigi

and

Sì, sono appena uscito dal supermercato

According to the Treccani dictionary, ci for moto da luogo is uncommon (non com.). See also the entry for ne.

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