Leviga la trave con attenzione.

Smooth the beam carefully.

Breakdown of Leviga la trave con attenzione.

• con attenzione: carefully
• la trave: the structural beam
• levigare: to smooth (a surface)

Questions & Answers about Leviga la trave con attenzione.

Why is leviga used here instead of levigare?

Leviga is the imperative form, used to give a command or instruction.

• levigare = the infinitive, to sand / to smooth
• leviga = sand! / smooth! when speaking to one person informally (tu)

So the sentence is giving a direct instruction, not just naming the action.

What person is leviga referring to?

It refers to you in the informal singular sense, meaning you are speaking to one person you would address as tu.

Italian often leaves the subject pronoun out, so:

• (Tu) leviga la trave con attenzione.

The tu is understood and normally not stated unless you want emphasis.

Would this change in a formal situation?

Yes. If you were speaking formally to one person, you would use the Lei form of the imperative:

• Levighi la trave con attenzione.

So:

• Leviga = informal singular command
• Levighi = formal singular command

This is a very common distinction in Italian.

Why is it la trave and not il trave?