Farcela and andarsene belong to a special family of Italian verbs called pronominal verbs — verbs permanently fused with one or more pronouns that change their meaning entirely. Farcela means "to manage" or "to be able to do it" (Ce la faccio! — I can do it!, Non ce la faccio più — I can't take it anymore), and andarsene means "to leave" or "to go away" (Me ne vado! — I'm out of here!, Se ne è andato senza salutare — He left without saying goodbye). The pronouns ce la (in farcela) and me ne / te ne / se ne / ce ne / ve ne / se ne (in andarsene) are inseparable parts of the verb — they always travel with the conjugation and shift with the subject.
In the exercises below you'll drill both verbs across all six persons in the present tense, then move into the passato prossimo, where farcela uses avere and the past participle is always feminine singular fatta because la is the object (Ce l'ho fatta! — I made it!), while andarsene uses essere with full subject agreement (Me ne sono andato/a, Ce ne siamo andati/e). You'll also meet a few of their cousins — cavarsela (to get by), fregarsene (to not care), volerci (to take, of time/effort), entrarci (to have to do with) — and the classic spoken contractions like se n'è andato. These verbs are the soul of natural, lived-in Italian — speakers use them constantly, and learners who master them sound a generation more advanced overnight.
Italian has a special category of verbs called verbi pronominali (pronominal verbs). These are verbs that are permanently fused with one or more pronouns, changing their meaning entirely. The two most important and common ones at A2 level are farcela (to manage, to be able to do it) and andarsene (to leave, to go away). Unlike regular verbs, these pronouns are inseparable parts of the verb — they move together and change with the subject. Once you master these, you will sound far more natural in everyday Italian conversation.
| Subject | Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | ce la faccio | I manage / I can do it |
| tu | ce la fai | you manage / you can do it |
| lui/lei | ce la fa | he/she manages / can do it |
| noi | ce la facciamo | we manage / we can do it |
| voi | ce la fate | you (pl.) manage / you can do it |
| loro | ce la fanno | they manage / they can do it |
| Subject | Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | me ne vado | I'm leaving / I'm going away |
| tu | te ne vai | you're leaving / you're going away |
| lui/lei | se ne va | he/she is leaving / going away |
| noi | ce ne andiamo | we're leaving / going away |
| voi | ve ne andate | you (pl.) are leaving / going away |
| loro | se ne vanno | they're leaving / going away |
Andarsene uses essere as its auxiliary in the passato prossimo, which means the past participle (andato) must agree in gender and number with the subject. The pronoun ne stays attached: me ne sono andato/a, te ne sei andato/a, se ne è andato/andata, ce ne siamo andati/e, ve ne siete andati/e, se ne sono andati/andate. Note that in spoken Italian, 'se ne è' is often contracted to 'se n'è': Se n'è andato alle tre (He left at three). The contraction is standard and perfectly correct.
| Verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| cavarsela | to get by / to manage | Me la cavo abbastanza bene. (I get by pretty well.) |
| avercela con qualcuno | to be angry with someone | Ce l'ho con te! (I'm angry with you!) |
| fregarsene | to not care / to not give a damn | Me ne frego. (I don't care.) |
| volerci | to take (time/effort) | Ci vuole un'ora. / Ci vogliono due ore. |
| entrarci | to have to do with | Non c'entra niente. (It has nothing to do with it.) |
Remember these three things. First, the pronouns in farcela (ce la) and andarsene (me/te/se/ce/ve/se ne) always stay together and always move with the subject — you cannot separate or drop them. Second, in the passato prossimo, farcela uses avere (ce l'ho fatta, ce l'abbiamo fatta) and the past participle is always feminine singular (fatta) because 'la' is the object. Andarsene uses essere, so the past participle agrees with the subject. Third, non ce la faccio più is one of the most common expressions in spoken Italian — it means 'I can't take it anymore' and is used in many everyday situations from being tired to being frustrated.
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Farcela: Present Tense — First and Second Person
10 questions
Farcela: Identifying the Correct Form
10 questions
Farcela: Fill in the Present Tense
10 questions
Farcela: Meaning and Usage
10 questions
Farcela: Real-Life Situations
10 questions
Farcela: Negative Forms and Questions
10 questions
Farcela: Choosing the Right Subject
10 questions
Farcela: Sentence Completion
10 questions
Farcela: Translation Practice
10 questions
Farcela: Mixed Present Tense Review
10 questions
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Farcela: Passato Prossimo — Ce l'ho fatta
10 questions
Farcela: Passato Prossimo — Negative and Questions
10 questions
Farcela: With Modal Verbs
10 questions
Farcela: Context and Register
10 questions
Farcela: Passato Prossimo Fill in the Blanks
10 questions
Farcela: Mixed Tenses Review
10 questions
Farcela: Error Correction
10 questions
Farcela: Common Expressions
10 questions
Farcela: Group 2 Review
10 questions
Farcela: Group 2 Mixed Fill in the Blanks
10 questions
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Andarsene: Present Tense — All Persons
10 questions
Andarsene: Choosing the Right Person
10 questions
Andarsene: Negative Forms
10 questions
Andarsene: With Time Expressions
10 questions
Andarsene: Fill in the Blanks (Present)
10 questions
Andarsene: Common Expressions and Contexts
10 questions
Andarsene: Imperatives
10 questions
Andarsene: With Modal Verbs and Infinitives
10 questions
Andarsene: Error Correction
10 questions
Andarsene — Fill in the Present Tense
10 questions
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Andarsene — Passato Prossimo
10 questions
Andarsene — Negative and Question Forms
10 questions
Andarsene — Common Expressions and Context
10 questions
Andarsene — Past Tense Agreement
10 questions
Andarsene — Fill in Past and Present
10 questions
Andarsene — Translating English Sentences
10 questions
Andarsene — Real-Life Dialogues
10 questions
Andarsene — Error Correction
10 questions
Andarsene — With Time Expressions and Adverbs
10 questions
Andarsene — Sentence Completion
10 questions
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Mixed — Farcela and Andarsene Together
10 questions
Cavarsela — To Get By / Manage
10 questions
Avercela con — To Have It in for Someone
10 questions
Volerci — Time and Quantity Required
10 questions
Mixed Idioms — Fill in the Blank
10 questions
Mixed Idioms — Choosing the Right Expression
10 questions
Mixed Idioms — Translation Challenge
10 questions
Mixed Idioms — Dialogue Completion
10 questions
Mixed Idioms — Error Identification
10 questions
Final Review — All Idiomatic Verbs
10 questions
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Farcela means "to manage, to be able to handle it". It conjugates as ce la faccio, ce la fai, ce la fa, ce la facciamo, ce la fate, ce la fanno. Common uses: "Ce la faccio!" (I can do it!), "Non ce la faccio più" (I can't take it anymore — one of the most frequent expressions in spoken Italian).
Andarsene means "to leave, to go away". The pronoun "ne" stays attached and the reflexive part changes: me ne vado, te ne vai, se ne va, ce ne andiamo, ve ne andate, se ne vanno. Example: "Me ne vado, è tardi" (I'm leaving, it's late). It's more emphatic than just "vado".
Farcela uses avere and the participle is always feminine singular (because of "la"): "Ce l'ho fatta!" (I made it!), "Ce l'abbiamo fatta" (We made it). Andarsene uses essere and the participle agrees with the subject: "Se ne è andato" (he left), "Se ne è andata" (she left), "Se ne sono andati" (they left).
Useful ones include cavarsela (to get by — "me la cavo"), fregarsene (to not care — "me ne frego"), avercela con qualcuno (to be angry with someone — "ce l'ho con te"), volerci (to take time/effort — "ci vuole un'ora"), and entrarci (to have to do with — "non c'entra niente"). They sound highly natural in everyday conversation.
A2 Topics