"Cavarsela" verbo pronominale. "Ce la siamo cavata" = we made it/we managed to do.../we did fine.

"Ce la siamo cavata" means "We succeeded". You could also say: "Siamo riusciti a cavarcela". "Cavarsela" is a particular kind of verb. In italian we call it "verbo pronominale" o "verbo idiomatico". It is formed by a verb followed by 2 pronoun particles. The meaning of these verbs is different from the meaning of the "simple" verbs: - "cavare" has a different meaning from "cavarsela" - "prendere" has a different meaning from "prendersela" and so on. When you coniugate the verb, "la" remains the same, and indicates the direct object of the verb (your second question: yes). On the contrary, "se" follows the person of the verb. For example: io ME la sono cavata - sono riuscito a cavarMEla tu TE la sei cavata - sei riuscito a cavarTEla lui SE la è cavata - è riuscito a cavarSEla noi CE la siamo cavata - siamo riusciti a cavarCEla voi VE la siete cavata - siete riusciti a cavarVEla loro SE la sono cavata - sono riusciti a cavarSEla Finally, to answer at your first question, you find "CE" instead of "CI" because, when it comes before "LA", "LO", "LI", "LE", "NE", "CI" becomes "CE". So yes, "CE" is the reflexive, and it's not "CI" because it is followed by "LA", and in this case "CI" becomes "CE".

There are fixed verbs ( Verb + pronoun ) and the new word has a different meaning than the original verb. For example the verb "Cavare " means " to extract " or " to pull out " cavare un ragno dal buco! But the new word formed from the reflexive verb " cavarsi " + the pronoun " la " has another meaning totally different. "Cavarsela " = to get by, to manage for example me la cavo senza danni I manage to get by without getting hurt. The verb is ( Cavarsi + la = cavarsela ) ( "si" become "se" since there is a pronoun after it.) Cavarsi is conjugated like any normal reflexive verb (IO) MI CAVO (TU) TI CAVI ( LUI / LEI ) SI CAVA (NOI ) CI CAVIAMO (VOI ) VI CAVATE (LORO ) SI CAVANO But we need to add the pronoun "LA" before the verb , and remember to Replace the "I" of MI, TI, SI, CI, VI with an "E" because in double pronouns we do that in order to have a nicer sound (Since Italian is a musical language ! ;) ) So it becomes (IO) ME LA CAVO (TU) TE LA CAVI ( LUI / LEI ) SE LA CAVA (NOI ) CE LA CAVIAMO (VOI ) VE LA CAVATE (LORO ) SE LA CAVANO Notice that "LA" is fixed and IT IS not connected to the object. "LA" will always be there, you will never find "LO" or "LI" or "LE" whatever the object is. Now the form I wrote is in the present, but like any other verb, it can be conjugated in all tenses. ( including past : passato prossimo ) like the form you used in your question. As any reflexive verb ( like : svegliarsi, alzarsi .... etc) when we want to conjugate on Passato prossimo, we use auxiliary " Essere ". plus the participle of the verb itself So cavarsela becomes:- (IO) ME LA SONO CAVATA (TU) TE LA SEI CAVATA (LUI/LEI) SE L'E' CAVATA ( SE LA E' CAVATA ) LA + E' = L'E' (NOI) CE LA SIAMO CAVATA (VOI) VE LA SIETE CAVATA (LORO) SE LA SONO CAVATA I hope I was helpful to you with my answer Good Luck! ;)