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- "Fai come vuoi."
115 Comments
Volere is the verb "to want", which could also be used as "to need" or "to wish" or "to expect". The English translation "Do as you please" really means "do as you wish" or "do as you want" here.
Generally, in English, you can omit the word "please" as it is just a polite addition. However, in "do as you please", you couldn't omit "please" and it still make sense, so it is likely to have a different meaning. It is not really acting as the word "please" but as the word "want". It is really the English language that causes this issue, using words meaning something else in place of something else!
I want - Io voglio You want - Tu vuoi He/She wants - Lui/Lei vuole We want - Noi vogliamo You want (plural) - Voi volete They want - Loro Vogliono
The "please" in "Do as you please" is the verb "to please", not the polite addition. A less confusing way of saying "Do as you please" would be "Do what pleases you" which is kind of like "Do what you want", but I don't think it's the best translation here. Grammatically, it is odd but still a common English phrase.
Yes it is the verb 'to please' used reflexively in this example which is much more uncommon in English.
Thank you that's very helpful but i still confused by the variations wonder why they don't seem like general ones
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Correct, which is why if you wanted to say "As you wish", simply say "Come vuoi" or "Come desideri".
I think "Do as you like" is less awkward expression. I really was confused by use of "Please" as a verb in this phrase. I never heard any native English speaker would use it in this way.
- 588
My mother tongue is Turkish. I don't understand this explanation.
I wish I could copy and paste the text. Google translation would have helped me.
September 24, 2019
What is "come" supposed to mean? I have seen Duolingo refer to it all "like" and "as" and "who."
What +schiaffino89 said. Think of "come" as a simile. The same way you would use "like or "as" to compare two objects that would otherwise not be within the same desciptive pool (i.e: a baby and a button), is the same way you would use "come". "Come stai" (how are you? Though it can be seen as What are you like?). "Lei come la sua mamma" (she is like her mother)...
come means like, as and how, it is hard to explain why in english language, because it doesn't really make much sense.
Fai = make, come = like.. But vuoi?? Sounds like "voi" but it's related to voglia! HALP D:
Wow, I need a text book...I came to redo this section just as practice and its springing up new words all over
As a general point, I am a little surprised that the course notes for this section did not include tables of the present tense for regular verbs and also for the far from regular ones such as avere and volere which are also introduced here. I suppose all the information is there, spread over the individual sentences, but I feel that such a very odd verb as avere – which, if I have understood rightly, jumps from third-singular ha to first-plural abbiamo – would have been easier to grasp if its forms had been set out in full.
I read it as "You make how you want". Where does "Do", "as" and "please" come in to it?
Well literally I would translate it as "You do like you want." But I believe a better translation from this would be "Do what you want" and is what most English speakers would say. Duo's translation is "Do as you please" which is also close to "Do what you want." It may not literally translate but I think this would be the best and most common occurrence of this sentence.
'Fai' is not only the second person indicative, but also the second person imperative, hence it does literally translate to "Do as/like you want".
Fai is do and come is as, also in translation you should not do it word by word
Correct! This sentence is troublesome for us nonitalians north of the Alps! In norwegian it is: Gjør som du vil.
Here, like with english, it is an imperative sentence, so the beginning you can be left out. It is still there, but only implied. Examples would include, Go upstairs, Eat your chicken. One wouldn't say in English, You eat your chicken, or, You go upstairs. Although that still would be correct, we leave out the beginning noun. Here, you do as you wish would be correct, though, due to it being an imperative sentence where the noun is already known and implied, we can leave out the you.
come has a couple of meanings. As and as if. We couldn't use the latter due to the sentence being incorrect. (You) Do as if you want. So we use just the linking verb, as. (You) Do as you want.
Voui is want or wish. Both are correct. Please is the English subsituting words for politeness. Any three will work. Do as you wish, and Do as you want are correct litteral translations, but when said in English makes you sound rude. So we subsitute please inside for the objective of being polite. And due to being the you form of the verb, we add in the pronoun.
Firstly, 'you' is a personal pronoun, not a noun! Secondly, 'as' isn't a linking verb. It's not even a verb at all. Thirdly, 'do as you wish' and 'do as you please' can both be either rude or not rude, depending on how you say it. Moreover, 'please' here is a verb and is equivalent to 'wish' in this case and it's not the adverb 'please' that you are referring to! Finally and most importantly, your argument that the this sentence is an imperative is incorrect. In Italian you can omit the pronoun whenever you want; it doesn't make it an imperative sentence by omitting the pronoun. Every verb in Italian has an imperative conjugations for all but the first singular form. It just so happens that 'fai' is both the second person indicative and second person imperative form of 'fare' and hence this sentence can both be interpreted as a simple statement and as a command. You argue that, because like in English it's imperative, the beginning 'you' can be left out. But in English nor in Italian is this optional for imperative sentences. 'You go upstairs!' is not imperative. You're thinking of 'You! Go up stairs!', which is imperative. Neither in Italian is there a personal pronoun in the imperative form. However, in any other form the personal pronoun is optional. The personal pronoun is merely used to clarify or emphasize, otherwise it is almost always omitted.
what about 'you are doing what you want' isnt that also correct? Present (continouse) tense? We have not learned imperatives at this stage yet
That would require the gerand (-ing). You are doing as you please = Stai facendo come vuoi
Have to love jumping into a lesson with no prior knowledge, that's Duolingo for you
- 109
Oh joy! This could be where i pack it in! I thought "come" meant how. Now i find out it means loads of things! HELP!
Fai come vuoi = Do as you want Fai cosa vuoi = Do what you want
Both have the same meaning, but it is very confusing to think that "come" with all it's other meanings, also means what. I think it would be easier to keep it as "as" in this sentence structure.
- 19
This sentence makes complete sense. Let me give you an example of where you could use it. Let's say a person is really pissing you off, they keep doing things you tell them not to. You get fed up with this and tell them that they can, "Do as they please." In other words, you are telling this person that you no longer care if they listen to you or not.
- 19
This sentence makes complete sense. Let me give you an example of where you could use it. Let's say a person is really pissing you off, they keep doing things you tell them not to. You get fed up with this and tell them that they can, "Do as they please." In other words, you are telling this person that you no longer care if they listen to you or not.
'Vuoi' is the second person present indicative form of 'volere' (to want) and means 'you want'. Equivalently one can translate it with 'you wish' or 'you please' and so on.
So, would it be safe to say "faccio come voglio" to say "I do as I want/wish/please?"
this is really the imperative, not the present. I guess it is the same in Italian? Nice to know.
Present tense conjugation of the irregular Italian ARE verbs: Fare, Dare & Stare - http://iltavoloitaliano.com/learning_the_Italian_Verbs_Fare_Dare_and_Stare_in_the_present_tense/
Very strange translation. "Do as you please". Never used that before. "Do what you want" would be a better translation I think.
This finally made sense when i came up with the Spanish slang equivalent. Hace como quieres.
I must have listened to this girl 10 times and each time 'Fai' sounded like 'Sigh'. From whispering words to unclear pronunciations, DL needs to replace this voice.
Had a feeling "fai" is the present form of "do". Portuguese has "faz" and French has "fait". Both carry the same meaning.
This is very confusing for first time learners because we do not know the association between english and italian.
i am confused, were does it say that "fai come" means do as you. i havent been able to find it anywhere
could somebody please tell me how you can add comments to duo on a ipad tablet. thanks
This is obviously an imperative sentence; the imperative (singular) takes the form of the 3rd person singular - so why isn't it "Fa come vuoi", instead of "Fai come vuoi"?
Huh? Im getting new words that I am not told what they mean? How am I suppossed to get it right? There is the same word with two different meanings.
- 263
"Do what do you want", Is it right or wrong? Just English is not my mother language. This sentence in Italian is very difficult to translate. What the versions is yours? Thanks.
I translated sentence to Do as you want and it was marked as incorrect. All though i think i understand the stretch in the translation, i have personally used the words "do as you want in every day speech. The translation for vuoi is you want. do not understand why vuoi becomes please in this excercise
"Do like you want" When do you finally change this mistake. C'mon!
If you hover over "vuoi" it says make, need, or like. I wrote do what you need, and Duo said it was wrong. Nowhere was the word "Please" found.Are we just making up words here?
- 19
"Do as you want" is actually wrong. Pleasing something is different than wanting something. They are different verbs.
Thank you very much duo, I put come, and the listened again but to the slow version, and it said como, so I changed it. And got it wrong. Thank you once again.
I accidentally put "do you as please" because I'm brain-dead
Can I get an F in the chat?
- 19
Do as you please is perfectly good in English. It is simply a more proper way of saying "Do as you want". This is a common phrase particularly seen in older English but is still used today.
- 19
It may not sound proper, but it is actually quite a common phrase especially in older English.
The mouse-over for fai says "(you) do drugs" is acceptable. I translated the sentence as "do drugs as you want" but it said I was wrong; it said the correct answer is "do as you want." Go figure.
