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Prendi quel quaderno e portamelo alla scrivania.

Prendi quel quaderno e portamelo alla scrivania.
Take that notebook and bring it to my desk.
FromLesson 39inHardcore Italian

Questions & Answers about Prendi quel quaderno e portamelo alla scrivania.

What does portamelo mean, and how is it constructed?

Portamelo is the affirmative imperative of portare (“to bring”) with attached clitic pronouns:

  • porta (2nd person singular imperative “bring”)
  • -me- (indirect object pronoun “to me”)
  • -lo (direct object pronoun “it”)
    Literally: “bring-it-to-me.”
Why are the pronouns attached to the end of the verb in portamelo rather than placed before it as in English?

In Italian, positive tu imperatives require clitic pronouns to be enclitic (i.e. attached) to the verb.
Examples: dammelo (“give it to me”), dicelo (“tell it to us”), portamelo.
By contrast, negative tu commands place pronouns before the verb: non me lo portare (“don’t bring it to me”).

What is the rule governing the order of pronouns in portamelo?

Italian clitics follow this fixed sequence:

  1. Reflexive
  2. Indirect
  3. Direct
    Here you have indirect (mi = “to me”) then direct (lo = “it”), forming -me-lo.
Why is it quel quaderno and not quello quaderno or quel quaderni?

Demonstrative quello (“that”) changes to match the noun:

  • quel before most consonants (quel quaderno)
  • quello before s+consonant, z, ps, gn (quello zaino)
  • quell’ before vowels (quell’amico)
    Also, quaderni is plural; we need singular quaderno.
Why is it alla scrivania and not simply a scrivania?

The preposition a (“to/at”) must combine with the definite article la (feminine singular):
a + la → alla.
So alla scrivania = “to the desk.”

Both prendi and porta are imperatives. How do you form the tu imperative for regular Italian verbs?
Why is there an e between prendi quel quaderno and portamelo?

The conjunction e simply means “and,” linking two coordinated commands:
“Take that notebook and bring it to me at the desk.”

Could you rephrase the sentence as Portami quel quaderno alla scrivania?

Yes. Portami = porta + mi, so Portami quel quaderno alla scrivania also means “Bring me that notebook to the desk.”
The original splits “take it” and “bring it to me”; this version merges them into one clause.

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