Phrases › Calling Police › C'erano tre persone.

C'erano tre persone.

There were three people.

Pronunciation

CHAIR-ah-no — 'c'erano' comes from 'esserci'; the 'c' of 'ci' merges with 'erano'.

When to use it

Use when describing the number of people involved in an incident. The number of suspects affects the level of response and which unit is dispatched.

What it means

'C'erano' is the imperfect of 'c'è' — used for describing a past state or scene. The present 'ci sono' is for current situations.

Variations

Era solo uno/una.

There was only one person.

Singular — important distinction for police search.

Erano almeno cinque.

There were at least five.

'Almeno' (at least) signals uncertainty about the exact number.

Non riesco a dire quante persone fossero.

I can't say how many people there were.

Honest answer when you genuinely did not count.

Mini Dialogue

— Quante persone erano coinvolte? — C'erano tre persone. Due uomini e una donna. — E lei dove si trovava? — Ero sul marciapiede di fronte, a circa dieci metri.

— How many people were involved? — There were three people. Two men and a woman. — And where were you? — I was on the opposite pavement, about ten metres away.

Cultural Note

In Italian police reports, witness proximity is always recorded. 'A circa dieci metri' (about ten metres away) affects how much weight your testimony carries, especially for face identification.

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