Learn Italian: Non accettiamo affatto un margine poco redditizio da un'azienda qualunque. - We do not accept a barely profitable margin from just any company at all.

Word

Non accettiamo affatto un margine poco redditizio da un'azienda qualunque.

Meaning

We do not accept a barely profitable margin from just any company at all.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Italian

Lesson

Emphatic negatives (non... affatto)

Breakdown of Non accettiamo affatto un margine poco redditizio da un'azienda qualunque.

little, few, not very

Questions & Answers about Non accettiamo affatto un margine poco redditizio da un'azienda qualunque.

Why does affatto go right after the verb instead of at the end of the sentence like "at all" does in English?

In Italian, emphatic negative reinforcers like affatto (or per niente) must be placed strictly right after the conjugated verb. Unlike in English, you cannot push it to the end of a long sentence like this one; saying Non accettiamo un margine... affatto would sound unnatural and incorrect.

Why is poco translated as "barely" rather than "a little" in poco redditizio?

When poco modifies an adjective like redditizio (profitable), it acts as an adverb meaning "not very", "barely", or "hardly". Note that poco always carries a negative or insufficient tone, whereas un po' would mean "a little" in a more neutral or positive way.

Does qualunque always mean "just any"? Why is it placed after azienda?

Placing qualunque after a noun (and using an indefinite article, as in un'azienda qualunque) specifically means "just any", "ordinary", or "run-of-the-mill". It carries a slightly dismissive tone here. If it were placed before the noun (qualunque azienda), it would neutrally mean "any company" (as in "whichever company").

Quick refresher: why does un'azienda get an apostrophe but un margine doesn't?