Breakdown of Cancella l’appuntamento se non puoi venire.
non
not
se
if
potere
to be able to
venire
to come
cancellare
to cancel
l’appuntamento
the appointment
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Questions & Answers about Cancella l’appuntamento se non puoi venire.
What does Cancella mean and what grammatical mood is it?
Cancella is the second-person singular imperative of cancellare (“to cancel”). It gives a direct command to tu (informal “you”), meaning “Cancel!”
Why is there no tu before Cancella?
In Italian, subject pronouns are usually dropped because the verb ending (–a) already shows the subject. Here, –a tells us the command is addressed to tu. Adding tu (Tu cancella) is grammatically correct but sounds redundant.
Why is there an apostrophe in l’appuntamento?
The masculine singular definite article lo drops its vowel before a noun starting with a vowel, contracting to l’. Thus lo appuntamento becomes l’appuntamento.
Why do we use the present tense in se non puoi venire to talk about a future situation?
In Italian, the present indicative often refers to future events, especially in if-clauses. So se non puoi venire (“if you can’t come”) naturally covers a possible future scenario.
What are the tense rules for the se clause here?
This is a real (first) conditional:
- Protasis (se clause): present indicative (se non puoi venire).
- Apodosis (main clause): can be imperative (cancella), present or future indicative.
No subjunctive is required for likely conditions.
Can I switch the order to Se non puoi venire, cancella l’appuntamento?
Yes. Italian allows inverting the clauses. Just add a comma after the se clause:
Se non puoi venire, cancella l’appuntamento.
The meaning stays exactly the same.
Why use venire instead of andare or arrivare?
Venire means “to come” toward the speaker or reference point. If the appointment involves your location or the speaker’s, venire is most natural. Andare (“to go”) or arrivare (“to arrive”) would shift the viewpoint elsewhere.
How would I say this formally, addressing Lei instead of tu?
For the formal Lei, the imperative uses the third-person singular subjunctive:
Cancelli l’appuntamento se non può venire.
Also, può replaces puoi for polite “you can.”
Are there other verbs to say “cancel an appointment” in Italian?
Yes. Besides cancellare, common alternatives are:
- disdire l’appuntamento
- annullare l’appuntamento
They’re mostly interchangeable in this context.
Could I say se non riesci a venire instead of se non puoi venire?
Absolutely. Riuscire a + infinitive means “manage to” or “be able to.”
So se non riesci a venire (“if you can’t make it”) works just like se non puoi venire.