Breakdown of No corras cerca de la piscina, por favor.
de
of
no
no / not
por favor
please
correr
to run
cerca
near / nearby
la piscina
the swimming pool
Questions & Answers about No corras cerca de la piscina, por favor.
Why does the verb end in -as (no corras) instead of the normal -es for the tú form of correr?
If I wanted to tell someone to run, would I just drop the no and say corras?
No! In Spanish, telling a friend to do something and telling them not to do it use different rules. To say "Run!", you use the affirmative command, which looks exactly like the normal present tense 'he/she/it' form: ¡corre!. The "swapped" vowel ending you see in corras is strictly used when the command is negative (no corras).
Why is there a de in cerca de la piscina? Can I just say cerca la piscina?
You need the de. In Spanish, cerca means "close" or "near". When you want to specify exactly what something is close to, you must link the words with de (literally "close of the pool"). You will see this required linking word with other location phrases too, like lejos de (far from) or delante de (in front of).
Where would I put tú in this sentence if I wanted to emphasize it?
It is highly unusual to include tú in negative commands unless you are making a strong contrast (for example: "He can run, but you don't run"). If you absolutely had to emphasize it, it would usually go after the verb: no corras tú. However, in an everyday request like this one, it sounds much more natural to leave it out completely. The -as ending already makes it 100% clear who you are talking to.
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