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### The Infinitive for General Instructions

When giving a command to a specific person, Italian uses the imperative mood. However, for general, impersonal instructions—like those found on packaging labels, manuals, and public signs—you use the basic infinitive form of the verb (ending in **-are**, **-ere**, or **-ire**).

This is called the Jussive Infinitive (*infinito iussivo*).

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### Negative Instructions

To give a negative instruction to the general public, simply place **non** directly in front of the infinitive verb. You will see this everywhere on product warnings.

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### Handling and Disposing of Products

You will frequently encounter the infinitive used for instructions on how to care for, handle, and eventually throw away items. Look out for verbs like *maneggiare* (to handle) and *smaltire* (to dispose of).

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The infinitive for instructions (-are, -ere, -ire)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
to shake	agitare
Shake well before opening the bottle.	Agitare bene prima di aprire la bottiglia.
Since it contains gas, do not shake the liquid.	Visto che contiene gas, non agitare il liquido.
to ingest / to swallow	ingerire
Do not swallow for any reason.	Non ingerire per nessun motivo.
If the pain continues, do not take another pill.	Se il dolore continua, non prendere un'altra pillola.
warning	l'avvertenza
Read the warning before using the product.	Leggere l'avvertenza prima di usare il prodotto.
This warning is very important.	Questa avvertenza è molto importante.
to dilute	diluire
Dilute the liquid in hot milk.	Diluire il liquido nel latte caldo.
Never dilute with cold water.	Non diluire mai con acqua fredda.
to rinse	sciacquare
Rinse the bottle before recycling the glass.	Sciacquare la bottiglia prima di riciclare il vetro.
Rinse face and wash hands.	Sciacquare il viso e lavare le mani.
dose / amount (medicine, substance)	la dose
Do not exceed the maximum dose.	Non superare la dose massima.
Take a small dose before sleeping.	Prendere una piccola dose prima di dormire.
to apply (put on, implement)	applicare
Apply on clean skin.	Applicare sulla pelle pulita.
Do not apply just any product on the face.	Non applicare un prodotto qualsiasi sul viso.
to handle	maneggiare
Handle the package with great care.	Maneggiare il pacco con molta attenzione.
Do not use if the box is broken.	Non usare se la scatola è rotta.
caution / care	la cautela
Open the bottle with caution.	Aprire la bottiglia con cautela.
Since it is made of glass, use a lot of caution.	Dato che è di vetro, usare molta cautela.
to dispose of / to get rid of (waste)	smaltire
Dispose of the plastic in the correct bin.	Smaltire la plastica nel bidone giusto.
Since the container is empty, recycle the plastic.	Visto che il contenitore è vuoto, riciclare la plastica.
Handle the product with caution and do not ingest.	Maneggiare il prodotto con cautela e non ingerire.
Dispose of the container after use.	Smaltire il contenitore dopo l'uso.