Learn Italian: Non puoi proibire tutte le feste per mantenere il controllo. - You cannot forbid all the parties to keep control.

Non puoi proibire tutte le feste per mantenere il controllo.

You cannot forbid all the parties to keep control.

Breakdown of Non puoi proibire tutte le feste per mantenere il controllo.

non

not

per

for / in order to / because of

Questions & Answers about Non puoi proibire tutte le feste per mantenere il controllo.

Since this lesson is about lasciare + infinitive, how would I use an infinitive after proibire?

Unlike lasciare, which connects directly to the next verb (like lasciare andare for "to let go"), proibire requires the preposition di if a verb follows it. For example, you would say proibire di ballare ("to forbid dancing"). In this specific sentence, however, proibire is followed directly by a noun (tutte le feste), so no preposition is needed.

Why is there a le after tutte? Can't I just say tutte feste?

No, in Italian, whenever you use tutto, tutta, tutti, or tutte to mean "all", it must be followed by a definite article. You always have to say tutte le feste (literally "all the parties"), even in contexts where English would just say "all parties".

Why do we need per before mantenere? Doesn't the infinitive already mean "to keep"?

While the infinitive mantenere does mean "to keep", you must add per when the "to" in English actually means "in order to". The speaker is forbidding parties in order to keep control. Whenever you are expressing the purpose, goal, or reason for an action, always use per + infinitive.

Is mantenere conjugated like a regular -ere verb?