Breakdown of Non parcheggiare troppo lontano dal portone principale.
Questions & Answers about Non parcheggiare troppo lontano dal portone principale.
In Italian, when giving a negative command to tu, you don’t use the usual second-person singular imperative (parcheggia). Instead you use non + the infinitive:
• Positive command (tu): Parcheggia qui (“Park here.”)
• Negative command (tu): Non parcheggiare qui (“Don’t park here.”)
The negation non always precedes the verb form you’re using. For a tu negative command, that means it goes right before the infinitive:
Non parcheggiare…
If it were a positive command you wouldn’t use non at all, and if it were a voi command (see below) you’d place non before the imperative form.
Troppo is an adverb meaning “too” or “too much.” When placed before another adjective or adverb (here lontano), it intensifies it:
• troppo lontano = “too far”
Putting troppo after lontano (lontano troppo) would sound unidiomatic in Italian.
The verb/adverb lontano pairs with da for expressing distance “from” a reference point.
• da + il contracts to dal
So troppo lontano dal portone literally means “too far from the main door.”
Saying al portone would mean “to/toward the door”, changing the meaning.
• Portone = a large/main door or gate, typically the entrance to a building or courtyard.
• Porta = an ordinary door.
Here, portone principale emphasizes “the main entrance door.”
For voi (you all), the negative imperative uses non + the voi form of the imperative:
Non parcheggiate troppo lontano dal portone principale.
Here parcheggiate is the second-person plural imperative, and non still precedes it.