In caso di emergenza, chiama il medico.

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Breakdown of In caso di emergenza, chiama il medico.

• in: in
• il medico: the doctor
• chiamare: to call

Questions & Answers about In caso di emergenza, chiama il medico.

What does in caso di emergenza literally mean?

in = “in”; caso = “case”; di = “of”; emergenza = “emergency.” Together, in caso di emergenza is a fixed phrase meaning “in case of emergency” (i.e. “if there’s an emergency”).

Why don’t we say in caso di un’emergenza or use an article before emergenza?

After in caso di, you never add an article. It’s always in caso di + noun without article. Saying in caso di un’emergenza is non-standard. If you want to specify “if there’s an emergency,” you can rephrase to se c’è un’emergenza.

What kind of word is chiama and what does it mean here?

chiama is the second-person singular tu imperative of chiamare (“to call”). It functions as a command: “call!” (i.e. “you call”).

chiama looks identical to the third-person singular present (“he/she calls”). How do I know it’s a command?

For regular -are verbs, the tu imperative matches the third-person singular present indicative. Here, context makes it clear it’s an order: there’s no explicit subject and it follows the conditional phrase in caso di emergenza, signalling an instruction.