Breakdown of Giudichi lo sbaglio, ma non sai mica l'intenzione.
ma
but
non
not
lo sbaglio
the mistake
sapere
to know
mica
not at all / it's not like
l'intenzione
intention
giudicare
to judge
Questions & Answers about Giudichi lo sbaglio, ma non sai mica l'intenzione.
Why do we use both non and mica together in this sentence?
In Italian, mica is used to emphasize a negation, similar to saying 'at all' or 'by any means' in English. When it comes after the verb like it does here (sai), you still need the standard non before the verb to make the sentence negative. If you put mica before the verb, you would drop the non (e.g., ma mica sai l'intenzione).
Why is there an 'h' in giudichi?
The infinitive of the verb is giudicare (to judge). Since it ends in -care, you need to add an h in the 'tu' form to keep the hard 'c' sound (like a 'k') before the ending vowel -i. If you wrote giudici, it would be pronounced with a soft 'ch' sound, which happens to be the plural noun for 'judges'!
Why use sai (from sapere) instead of a form of conoscere to say you know the intention?
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