Breakdown of Non negozio il compenso, purché voi paghiate subito.
non
not
voi
you (plural)
subito
immediately / right away
pagare
to pay
negoziare
to negotiate
purché
provided that / as long as
il compenso
compensation
Questions & Answers about Non negozio il compenso, purché voi paghiate subito.
Wait, doesn't negozio mean "shop"?
It does! However, in this sentence, negozio is the first-person singular ("I") form of the verb negoziare (to negotiate). You can tell it's a verb here because it directly follows the negative particle non and takes a direct object (il compenso).
Why is the verb pagare conjugated as paghiate instead of the regular present tense pagate?
Because of the conjunction purché (provided that / as long as). In Italian, conjunctions that introduce a condition or purpose require the verb that follows them to be in the subjunctive mood. Paghiate is the present subjunctive form for voi.
Why is there an "h" in paghiate?
To keep the hard "g" sound. The root of pagare has a hard "g" (like in "go"). When conjugating it into forms that start with "i" or "e", an "h" is added so the pronunciation doesn't soften into a "j" sound (like in "gel"). This spelling rule applies to the subjunctive forms of all verbs ending in -care and -gare.
Is the pronoun voi required after purché?
No, it's optional here. The ending of paghiate makes it entirely clear that the subject is voi. Including voi just adds a bit of emphasis, like saying "provided that you all pay immediately." Note that for the singular present subjunctive forms, which all share the exact same ending, using the subject pronoun is often necessary to avoid confusion, but for noi and voi, it's mainly for emphasis.
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