"Bonvolu doni la pomon al mi."

Translation: Please give me the apple.

[isaac387423]

Classic thing for Adam to say

[CharmingTiger]

Okay.

[Canvasian]

Why is the infinitive used here?

[johmue]

Because there is already a non-infinitive verb, the imperative "bonvolu".

[Canvasian]

Ohhh, got it! Thanks

[nelomah]

what would it mean if donas was used instead?

[Thaddeus108]

Now, if Rodrigo Borgia had said it like this, the game would have ended so much differently!

[BCWoogy]

Wut?

[Thaddeus108]

It's an Assassin's Creed II joke.

[BCWoogy]

Alright...

[Thaddeus108]

I don't like putting spoilers in public conversations, message me if you want an explanation. Lol

[nitishch]

Note that the 'bonvolu' here is the imperative form of the verb 'bonvoli' meaning 'to do a favour'. That's why the verb 'doni' is in infinitive. So I guess it literally means 'Do me a favour by giving me the apple'.

[Quirkyailurus]

So if you didn't have bonvolu it would be donu la pomon al mi? is that correct using the command?

[Edison88]

Seems like it. Would be nice to have bonvolu broken down into its constituent parts to be able to know how it interacts with the following infinitive.

[Majklo_Blic]

I'll give it a shot.

• bon- = good.

• voli = to wish or to want.

So bonvoli means to want what's good [for someone]. This is reinforced by the noun form, bonvolo, which means affection or goodwill.

Putting it together, "Bonvolu [verb]" should translate roughly as, "[I insist that] you want it to be good to [verb]." Which is a mouthful to say, but pretty much what we mean by, "Please."

(It's a slightly different perspective, though. To please is to make someone happy, while bonvoli is more about you being happy to do something.)

[Simarbir]

Does "bonvolu doni min la pomon." mean the same? I'm confused. Could someone please explain.

[nelomah]

"bonvolu doni al mi la pomon." you need the "al" not completely sure why and "mi" is not the object, it is the subject so does not need the n at the end of it

[ChrisBrads8]

Is it supposed to not accept "Please give me that apple."?

[Edison88]

That would be "kion" rather than "la" I believe.

[danielqsc]

That would be "tiun pomon".

[SteveAwesome]

Don't do it, he's a templar!

[JohanovanOosten]

why is it mi instead of min?

[ElectricCoffee]

Am I the only one who confuses pomon with tomato?

[ErnaBuber-]

I wish that Duolingo would accept 'incorrect' English: 'Please to give the apple to me' is a literal translation, and helps me 'see' the Esperanto construct.

[viguidugli]

I might be confused with any other grammar rule, but shouldn't we take the -n off when used after an arcticle? So, shouldn't it be "le pomo" instead of "la pomon"? (Doni la pomo al mi / doni pomon al mi)