Breakdown of Il compito è noioso, ma non lo lascio delegare a nessuno.
essere
to be
ma
but
non
not
noioso
boring
a
to / at
lasciare
to leave (an object)
il compito
the assignment
lo
him/it (direct object)
nessuno
nobody
delegare
to delegate
Questions & Answers about Il compito è noioso, ma non lo lascio delegare a nessuno.
Why is the pronoun lo placed before lascio? Couldn't I say non lascio delegarlo?
With most verbs, you can attach an object pronoun to the end of the infinitive. However, lasciare (to let) and fare (to make) act as causative verbs here. The rule for causatives is strict: the object pronoun must go before the conjugated causative verb, never attached to the infinitive. Therefore, non lo lascio delegare is required.
Why is it a nessuno? Shouldn't "anyone" just be the direct object nessuno without the a?
This is a tricky feature of Italian causative structures. In English, we say "I let [someone] do [something]". But in Italian, if the infinitive verb (delegare) already has a direct object (the pronoun lo), the person actually performing the action gets bumped to an indirect object, introduced by a. Literally, the structure is "I do not let delegate it to anyone".
Since nessuno means "nobody", doesn't non lo lascio... a nessuno translate to a double negative?
How would the meaning change if I used fare instead of lasciare, as in non lo faccio delegare a nessuno?
Lasciare means "to let" or "to allow", so the current sentence means you are refusing to give people permission to pass the buck. If you used fare (to make / to have someone do something), it would mean "I don't have anyone delegate it" or "I don't make anyone delegate it". The grammar rules for the pronoun lo and the indirect object a nessuno would remain exactly the same.
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