Word
Da ieri non fai altro che piagnucolare.
Meaning
You've done nothing but whine since yesterday.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Da ieri non fai altro che piagnucolare.
non
not
fare
to do / to make
ieri
yesterday
altro
other, another
Questions & Answers about Da ieri non fai altro che piagnucolare.
How exactly does the non fare altro che structure work in this sentence?
Why is the present tense fai used when the English translation says "You've done"?
In Italian, when an action begins in the past and continues into the present, you use the present tense along with the preposition da (since). Because the person started whining yesterday (da ieri) and is still doing it now, Italian requires the present tense, unlike English which uses the present perfect.
Is the verb piagnucolare related to piangere?
Could the che in this sentence be considered a relative pronoun?
No, in the non fare altro che structure, che functions as a conjunction meaning "than" or "except" in a comparative sense. The literal translation is closer to "you do not do other than whine."