A2 · Asking and telling
The negative imperative
« Don't » leaves the verb alone; here it rebuilds it.
In the singular « you » Italian negates an order with the <b>infinitive</b>: fai! becomes non fare!, parla! becomes non parlare!, vai! becomes non andare!
No other language on this site does that, and it holds for tu alone. In every other person the form stays as it was and takes a non in front: non parlate!, non parli!
The pronoun may then stand in front or behind: non me lo dire and non dirmelo are both correct. In the affirmative it always attaches at the back: dimmelo.
And the four shortened order forms double the pronoun's first letter: dà → dammi, fa → fammi, di → dimmi, sta → stammi. Only gli never doubles: digli.
Die Form
| speak! → do not speak! | parla! → non parlare! |
| do! → do not do! | fai! → non fare! |
| go! → do not go! | vai! → non andare! |
| do not speak! (to several people) | non parlate! |
| tell it to me! | dimmelo! |
| do not tell it to me! | non dirmelo! |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
The singular you form becomes the infinitive.
Non parlare così forte!Do not speak so loudly!
Every other person stays as it is.
Non parlate tutti insieme!Do not all speak at once!
The pronoun may stand in front or behind.
Non me lo dire adesso.Do not tell me now.
The short forms double the following consonant.
Dammi un minuto, per favore.Give me a minute, please.
Woran man es erkennt
- non fare
- non parlare
- non andare
- dimmi
- dammi
Beispielsätze
Non preoccuparti, va tutto bene.Do not worry, everything is all right.
Non dimenticare le chiavi!Do not forget the keys!
Dimmi la verità, per favore.Tell me the truth, please.
Non toccare niente in questa stanza.Do not touch anything in this room.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
English negates every imperative the same way, with one word added and the verb untouched, so nothing warns you that here the rule changes with the person addressed. The infinitive belongs to tu and to nobody else: non parlare is « do not speak » to one person, and non parlate is the same thing to several. Using the infinitive for a group produces no sentence at all.
Only the singular you negates with an infinitive.
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