"Do not ask what they think, ask what they do!"
Translation:Non chiedete cosa pensano, chiedete cosa fanno!
42 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Yes, the tu conjugation in negative imperative always uses the infinitive: see http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa011900b.htm
No. The negated imperative for a single person uses the infinitive. See comments by f.formica
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-imperative-mood-in-italian-4072739
Yes; you can read other posts above, or https://www.thoughtco.com/the-imperative-mood-in-italian-4072739. The imperative mood is a bit of a patchwork, and the negative one for "tu" forms with the infinitive.
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How on earth are we supposed to know that the negated imperative second person singular uses the infinitive? It's NOT a good way of teaching as it's only due to f.formica's comment (thank you) that we know this. I am a teacher - don't approve!
But how do we know that this "you" the "ask" is refering to is the "you" of the 2nd p.plural(voi) instead of the 2nd p.singular "you"(tu)?
I am thinking that, in Italian, when you give a command/advice to a single person you use the form "ere" because it is impossible to do the same with "-i". Am I right or just losing my mind studying too much?
In English you really have no way to know if you're addressing one person or more with "you"; although technically you're always using a plural (the singular would be thou/thee). In Italian it's immediately evident from the conjugation.
The form in -re is only used in negative imperative, as it's taken from the infinitive; it's not like it couldn't be in -i, using the same form is what French does for instance, but for historical reasons some parts of the imperative conjugation are "borrowed".
So for instance, for a singular "you", you have:
- Chiedi! (positive imperative, informal - same as the 2nd person present)
- Non chiedere! (negative imperative, informal - same as the infinitive)
- Chieda! (positive imperative, formal - same as the 3rd person subjunctive)
- Non chieda! (negative imperative, formal - same as the 3rd person subjunctive)