If you haven't, please read the introductory post to complementary verbs first.
The text "ci sono" is the indicative, present, third person, plural conjugation of the procomplementary verb esserci, which means { to be there; to exist; to be present }, among many other meanings.
As you should already know, since this is a ‑ci verb, the particle remains unchanged during the conjugation. However…
Important note. All the forms ci + { è, e* } (where e* means any word starting with "e") are elided (joined) and become { cè, c'e* }. For example:
- ci è → c’è
- ci eravate → c’eravate
The present indicative conjugation of this verb is as follows:
- io ci sono, tu ci sei, lui/lei c’è, noi ci siamo, voi ci siete, loro ci sono
Coming back to the original sentence:
- Ma non ci sono automobili…
= But there are no cars…
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