Breakdown of Puoi sforzarti quanto vuoi, ma a un certo punto devi rassegnarti alla natura.
un
a / an (masculine)
ma
but
a
to / at
alla
to the / at the (feminine singular)
volere
to want
potere
can, to be able to
dovere
must
la natura
the nature
quanto
as (in comparisons)
certo
of course, sure
il punto
the point
sforzarsi
to strive
rassegnarsi
to resign oneself
Questions & Answers about Puoi sforzarti quanto vuoi, ma a un certo punto devi rassegnarti alla natura.
Why do sforzarsi and rassegnarsi take the pronoun -ti at the end here?
These are pronominal verbs of effort and resignation. Sforzarsi (to strive) and rassegnarsi (to resign oneself) need a reflexive pronoun to make sense. Because the subject is "you", we use ti. Since they follow the modal verbs puoi and devi, the pronoun attaches to the end of the infinitive, dropping the final -e (sforzar- + ti).
Can I put the ti before the verb instead?
Yes, this is a great rule to remember about modal verbs like potere (can) and dovere (must). You can either attach the pronoun to the infinitive, or put it right before the conjugated modal verb. So you could also say ti puoi sforzare and ti devi rassegnare, and the meaning stays exactly the same.
Why does rassegnarti use the preposition alla?
The verb rassegnarsi always pairs with the preposition a to introduce the thing you are giving in to. Since natura is feminine and requires the definite article la, the preposition a and the article la combine to form alla.
I thought quanto meant "how much". How is it being used in quanto vuoi?
While quanto is a question word for "how much", it is also commonly used in statements as a relative pronoun meaning "as much as" or "however much". Here, quanto vuoi translates directly to "as much as you want".
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