Breakdown of Questi documenti vanno timbrati immediatamente.
il documento
the document
questi
these (masculine)
immediatamente
immediately
andare
must be (+ past participle)
timbrare
to stamp
Questions & Answers about Questi documenti vanno timbrati immediatamente.
Why does this sentence use vanno (they go) instead of devono essere (they must be)?
Using andare as the auxiliary verb in a passive sentence creates what is called the "deontic passive" (expressing duty or necessity). Saying vanno timbrati means exactly the same thing as devono essere timbrati (they must be stamped), but it is very common and often sounds more natural in everyday Italian when giving instructions or stating rules.
Why does timbrati end in -i?
Because this is a passive construction, the past participle (timbrato) acts like an adjective. It must agree in gender and number with the subject receiving the action. Since documenti is masculine plural, timbrato becomes timbrati.
Could I use this same structure in a compound tense, like the passato prossimo, to say they "have had to be stamped"?
How would you express this exact same rule using the active voice?
To use the active voice, you would need to introduce a subject performing the action (like "someone" or "we"). For example, you could say: Qualcuno deve timbrare questi documenti immediatamente (Someone must stamp these documents immediately) or Dobbiamo timbrare questi documenti immediatamente (We must stamp these documents immediately).
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