How confident are you with giving instructions, commands and advice in Italian? All of these require what is known as the imperative. The Italian imperative is essential to know for many everyday situations you may find yourself in.
If you already know how to form the affirmative (positive) imperative (i.e. how to tell or advise someone to do something), then this article will help you take your knowledge of the Italian imperative further. We’re going to look at how to form the negative imperative – that is to say, how to tell or advise someone not to do something.
The Coffee Break Italian Show is a podcast series of useful episodes, in which we talk about interesting and tricky topics for anyone learning Italian. In this episode, Francesca and Maurizio explain how to use the negative imperative in Italian, and clarify the differences between the affirmative and the negative imperative forms.
Read on to learn more, and why not listen to the podcast episode as you go? Once you reach the end, look out for your free worksheet download, so that you can practise everything you learn.
The Italian imperative – a quick recap
If you haven’t already, we recommend watching our episode all about the positive imperative forms in Italian.
For now, however, we’ll start with a quick recap of when we use the imperative in Italian.
In Italian, we use the imperative to give advice, orders, instructions and directions.
The negative imperative in Italian
While the affirmative imperative is used to tell someone to do something, the negative imperative is used to tell someone not to do something.
How do you form the negative imperative in Italian?
In Italian, forming the negative imperative is fairly straightforward, once you know the affirmative imperative. Let’s look at its formation for each of the three “you” forms.
The ‘tu’ form of the negative imperative
The Italian imperative takes on a very different form in the negative tu form, compared to its positive form.
For the negative tu form, we use non followed by the infinitive of the verb. Remember that the infinitive is the base form of a verb that you find in a dictionary.
The combination of non and an infinitive conveys an imperative nuance.
Let’s see some examples of this, by transforming affirmative imperative statements into the negative Italian imperative. We’ll see one example each of an -are, -ere and -ire verb.
Entra!
Come in! / Enter!
Non entrare!
Don’t come in! / Don’t enter!
Rispondi!
Answer! / Reply!
Non rispondere!
Don’t answer! / Don’t reply!
Dormi!
Sleep!
Non dormire!
Don’t sleep!
The ‘voi’ form of the negative imperative
The negative voi form in the Italian imperative works differently. For the voi form, we use non followed by the conjugated verb in the voi form (in the present tense, or the affirmative imperative, since they are the same).
Let’s see some more examples, starting with the positive imperative in the voi form, followed by the negative:
Entrate!
Come in! / Enter!
Non entrate!
Don’t come in! / Don’t enter!
Rispondete!
Answer! / Reply!
Non rispondete!
Don’t answer! / Don’t reply!
Dormite!
Sleep!
Non dormite!
Don’t sleep!
The ‘Lei’ form of the negative imperative
Remember that Lei is the formal way to address a person in Italian.
The negative Lei form of the Italian imperative works similarly to the voi form. For the Lei form, we use non followed by the verb conjugated in the affirmative imperative Lei form, which is the same as the present subjunctive form.
Let’s see some examples of affirmative and negative Lei forms side by side, in order to compare.
Entri!
Come in! / Enter!
Non entri!
Don’t come in! / Don’t enter!
Risponda!
Answer! / Reply!
Non risponda!
Don’t answer! / Don’t reply!
Dorma!
Sleep!
Non dorma!
Don’t sleep!
Examples of everyday negative imperatives
The Italian imperative – either affirmative or negative – is used in many everyday situations.
One context in which you’re likely to see examples of the non + infinitive form of the imperative (the negative tu form) is on signs and notices which are giving an order to an unspecificed person.
Here are some examples:
Non sostare / parcheggiare qui.
Don’t park here.
Non camminare sull’erba.
Don’t walk on the grass.
Practising the negative forms of the Italian imperative
Time to put this knowledge into practice!
We’re now going to give you three scenarios and your task is to choose an appropriate negative imperative phrase for each one. Forza!
- It’s raining outside and your grandmother is unwell, but she still wants to go out to buy some milk and you want to advise her not to.
- Your friends have bad teeth, but they keep eating sweets. How would you advise them not to?
- A customer at your hotel wants to go to a certain pizzeria for dinner, but you want to suggest that it’s better not to go there. Instead, you recommend that they go to the restaurant on the corner. Have a go at coming up with this double imperative answer – one negative and one affirmative!
The negative imperative in Italian is a powerful tool for clear and effective communication. By mastering the Italian imperative, both in its affirmative and negative forms, you can confidently navigate many everyday situations.
For more help with this topic, make sure to watch or listen to the podcast episode with Francesca and Maurizio on The Coffee Break Italian Show. We regularly release new episodes for Italian learners, so subscribe to our YouTube channel and our podcast feed so that you know when a new episode is available.
In the meantime, for more help with your Italian, you should know that we send out regular, free email lessons to our Coffee Break community of language learners. Look out for the sign-up box, and we hope that you enjoy your next free Italian lesson.
Happy Coffee Breaking!
PS. Here are the answers to the challenge:
- Non uscire! (“Don’t go out!”) / Non andare fuori! (“Don’t go outside!”)
- Non mangiate le caramelle! (“Don’t eat sweets / candies!”) / Non mangiate i dolci! (“Don’t eat desserts / sweets!”)
- Non vada in quella pizzeria! Vada, invece, al ristorante all’angolo. (“Don’t go to that pizzeria! Go instead to the restaurant on the corner!”)
