Non tocca a te cambiare il punteggio.

not

Breakdown of Non tocca a te cambiare il punteggio.

• cambiare: to change
• te: you
• il punteggio: the score

Questions & Answers about Non tocca a te cambiare il punteggio.

What does tocca mean here? I thought toccare meant to touch.

Yes, toccare literally means to touch, but in this sentence it is being used in an idiomatic way.

Toccare a qualcuno can mean:

• to be someone’s turn
• to be up to someone
• to fall to someone to do something

So Non tocca a te cambiare il punteggio means something like:

• It’s not up to you to change the score
• It’s not your job/place to change the score
• It’s not for you to change the score

This is a very common extended meaning of toccare in Italian.

Why is it a te and not just te?

Because with this structure, Italian uses toccare a qualcuno.

So the pattern is:

• tocca a me
• tocca a te
• tocca a lui / a lei
• tocca a noi
• tocca a voi
• tocca a loro

The a is required because the person is introduced as an indirect object.

So:

• Tocca a te = It’s up to you / It’s your turn
• Non tocca a te = It’s not up to you

You would not normally say Non tocca te in this meaning.

Why is it te and not tu?