Questions & Answers about Signore, se ne vada e non suoni il campanello!
Where do se and ne come from in this sentence?
They are part of the verb andarsene (to leave / go away). It's built from andare (to go) + the reflexive pronoun si + the particle ne (meaning "from here" in this case). When si and ne are next to each other, si changes to se because it sounds smoother, creating se ne. Why is it se ne vada instead of attaching the pronouns to the end of the verb?
Because the speaker is addressing a Signore (Sir), they are using the formal imperative (the polite Lei command form). With formal commands, pronouns like se and ne must go before the verb. If this were an informal command to a friend, they would attach to the end as a single word: vattene. Why is the verb vada instead of vai or va?
Vada is the formal command form of andare for Lei (you, formal). The informal tu command would be vai or va', but since the speaker is maintaining distance by addressing a "Sir", they must use vada. Why is the negative command non suoni rather than non suonare?
You might remember that to tell someone "don't do something", you use non + the infinitive verb (like non suonare). However, that rule only applies to the informal tu form! For the formal Lei form used here, you simply put non in front of the conjugated formal command verb: non suoni. Learn Signore, se ne vada e non suoni il campanello and more in Italian
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