Whenever you want to say that you are happy to take care of an issue, or deal with a problem, consider using the very useful Italian expression Ci penso io! Let’s break it down bit by bit.
Ci penso io!
I’ll take care of it / deal with it / see to it!
Let’s start with the simplest part of the phrase, the verb pensare (to think). Here, it is being used in the present tense in its first person singular form penso (I think).
While “to think” is the go-to translation for pensare in most cases, it also has a second meaning, which is “to see to (something)” or “to take care of (something/someone).” In Italian, some possible synonyms might be occuparsi di (qualcosa) or badare a (qualcuno). For example:
- Se non penso io a mio padre, chi lo farà? = If I don’t take care of my father, who will?
- Devo pensare a mantenere la famiglia. = I have to take care of my family.
As you can see, pensare is always followed by the preposition a (to) in this case. This is important to note because a + someone/something can be replaced by the demonstrative pronoun ci.
For example, if we were to reformulate the previous phrases using this construction, we would get:
- Se non ci penso io, chi lo farà? = If I don’t take care of him, who will? –> Ci replaces “of him”
- Devo pensarci / Ci devo pensare. = I have to take care of them. –> Ci replaces “of them”
And this brings us to our phrase Ci penso io! Here, ci means “of it” and refers to an aforementioned problem, issue, or situation that needs to be dealt with. In other words, you are quite literally saying “of it I take care.”
Now, you may be wondering why the first person subject pronoun io (I) has made an appearance. After all, in Italian, the pronoun is normally dropped when the verb conjugation makes it clear who is talking.
However, in this case, not only has io been kept, but it has been placed at the end of the phrase. This is simply to create emphasis or to introduce a contrast. You will observe this tendency in many other common Italian phrases including:
- Faccio io! = I’ll do it!
- Dimmelo tu! = You tell me!
- Vai tu o vado io? = Are you going or am I?
Dobbiamo informare la scuola che oggi Marco resta a casa. – Non preoccuparti, ci penso io.
We have to let the school know that Marco is staying at home today. – Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
