Learn Italian: Nel fantasticare non realizzi mai i tuoi sogni. - By daydreaming you never realize your dreams.

Nel fantasticare non realizzi mai i tuoi sogni.

By daydreaming you never realize your dreams.

Breakdown of Nel fantasticare non realizzi mai i tuoi sogni.

in the (in + il) / while / upon (doing something)

Questions & Answers about Nel fantasticare non realizzi mai i tuoi sogni.

How could we rewrite this sentence to use the lesson's target structure, non fare altro che?

To change the meaning to 'You do nothing but daydream and never realize your dreams', you could say: Non fai altro che fantasticare e non realizzi mai i tuoi sogni. The phrase non fare altro che is followed directly by the present infinitive fantasticare to express an exclusive action.

What is the grammar behind nel fantasticare translating to 'by daydreaming'?

In Italian, an infinitive verb can function as a masculine singular noun. Here, fantasticare (to daydream) acts as 'the act of daydreaming' and takes the definite article il. When combined with the preposition in, in + il contracts to nel. This nel + infinitive structure is widely used to mean 'in doing' or 'by doing' an action.

Since mai means 'never', why is non also required here?

Italian relies on double negatives. When a negative word like mai is placed after the verb, you must put non before the verb (non realizzi mai). You can only drop the non if you move mai before the verb for strong emphasis, such as Mai realizzi i tuoi sogni, though this is much less common in everyday speech.

Why do we need the article i in i tuoi sogni if we already have the possessive ?