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- Topic: Italian >
- "Per favore bevi l'acqua."
61 Comments
519
It just happens to look the same in this case. You can see a difference in verbs ending in -are, like scusare, where the second person singular imperative is "scusa" (while it is "scusi" in the polite form).
Even with a question mark, 'please can you drink the water' is not a question but a polite imperative. Without a question mark, there is no ambiguity at all. This is a commonplace English usage and should be allowed.
See https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/verbs/modal-verbs/can-or-could
Couldn't this sentence also mean what someone would think (or quietly whisper) while hoping that it happens? For example, if you're doing a prank (by adding something to the water), and the person seems like they won't fall for it, you would then think/this, no? Or the phrase in Italian would be different?