Breakdown of Se hai sete, bevi pure dalla bottiglia: l’acqua è freschissima.
Questions & Answers about Se hai sete, bevi pure dalla bottiglia: l’acqua è freschissima.
Here pure is an adverb meaning “go ahead” or “feel free.” It’s not the same as the English word pure. In bevi pure it softens the command, turning it into a friendly invitation:
- Bevi pure! = “Go ahead and drink!”
You see this same usage in phrases like vieni pure (“come on in”) or chiedi pure (“feel free to ask”).
- da expresses origin or source: “from the bottle.”
- dalla is the fusion of da + la, because bottiglia is feminine singular.
- It’s the definite article (la) because you mean a specific bottle available (the one you’re holding). If you were speaking of any bottle you’d say da una bottiglia (“from a bottle”).
Avere sete is an idiomatic expression: you don’t use an article with these “state of being” nouns. Compare:
- avere fame, avere freddo, avere caldo
So you say hai sete (“you’re thirsty”) rather than hai la sete.
Bevi is the tu (second-person singular) form. In the imperative mood (affirmative), bere (to drink) is irregular:
- tu bevi (imperative)
- Lei beva (formal imperative)
- voi bevete
If you used beve, that would be the third-person singular indicative (“he/she drinks”), not an instruction.
Freschissima is the absolute superlative of fresco (fresh). You form it by attaching -issim- plus the ending matching the gender/number:
- fresco → fresch- + ‑issimo → freschissimo (masc. sing.)
- fresca → fresch- + ‑issima → freschissima (fem. sing.)
It means “extremely fresh” or “very, very fresh,” stronger than molto fresca.
The colon introduces an explanation or result of the first clause. You could also write:
- “Se hai sete, bevi pure dalla bottiglia, perché l’acqua è freschissima.”
But the colon is a stylistic choice that tightens the link: “If you’re thirsty, do this: the water is extremely fresh.”
Se hai sete uses the present indicative for a real condition (“if you really are thirsty”). In Italian you don’t use the subjunctive in first (real) conditionals. The pattern is:
- Se + present indicative, then main clause (here an imperative).