Learn Italian: Dovresti controllare l'ansia per stare bene. - You should control anxiety to feel well.

Dovresti controllare l'ansia per stare bene.

You should control anxiety to feel well.

Breakdown of Dovresti controllare l'ansia per stare bene.

per

for / in order to / because of

Questions & Answers about Dovresti controllare l'ansia per stare bene.

Why do we use dovresti here instead of devi?

Dovresti is the present conditional form of dovere. While devi (present tense) means "you must" or "you have to", dovresti translates to "you should". It softens the sentence, making it a friendly piece of advice rather than a strict command.

Why is controllare left in the infinitive form?

Because it follows dovresti, which acts as a modal (or helper) verb. Just like in English, the main verb that comes directly after a modal verb stays in its infinitive (dictionary) form.

Why does the Italian sentence say l'ansia (the anxiety) when the English translation just says "anxiety"?

In Italian, abstract nouns and general concepts like ansia usually require a definite article, whereas English often leaves it out. Since ansia is feminine and starts with a vowel, the article la becomes l'.

Why is per used before stare?

When you want to say "in order to" or express the purpose of an action, Italian uses per followed by an infinitive verb. So, per stare bene means "in order to feel well".

Why do we use stare for "to feel" instead of a verb like or ?