Learn Italian: Dormire poco fa male. - Sleeping too little is bad for you.

Dormire poco fa male.

Sleeping too little is bad for you.

Breakdown of Dormire poco fa male.

poco

little, few, not very

dormire

to sleep

fare male

to hurt, to be bad for you

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Questions & Answers about Dormire poco fa male.

Why does this sentence use fa (does/makes) instead of a word for is?

The verb fare is used in many Italian idioms. The phrase fare male literally means to do bad, but it is the standard way to say that something is bad for you or hurts.

What is the subject of the verb fa in this sentence?

The subject is the entire action of dormire poco (sleeping too little). Because a general action or concept acts as a singular it, we use the third-person singular form fa.

Why is the dictionary form dormire (to sleep) used as the first word?

In Italian, the infinitive (the dictionary form ending in -are, -ere, or -ire) can act as a noun and be the subject of a sentence. It translates exactly to the English -ing form, so dormire here means sleeping.

Can poco mean both little and too little?

Yes! The word poco simply means little or not much. In English, we often add too to make it sound more natural, but Italian doesn't require an extra word to express that it's a negative amount in this context.