Italiano — Negative imperative
To tell someone not to do something, Italian does not just add non to the affirmative form. For the informal singular (tu) it uses non + infinitive: non parlare! (don't speak!). The other persons keep their affirmative imperative and simply add non in front.
How it works
Only tu takes non + infinitive: non parlare!, non correre!, non andare! For noi and voi, use non + the ordinary affirmative imperative: non parliamo!, non parlate! The formal Lei uses the subjunctive form with non: non parli! — exactly the same word as the affirmative Lei imperative, only preceded by non.
Forms (parlare)
| Person | Negative form | Formation |
|---|---|---|
| tu | non parlare! | non + infinitive |
| Lei | non parli! | non + present subjunctive |
| noi | non parliamo! | non + affirmative imperative |
| voi | non parlate! | non + affirmative imperative |
| tu + pronome | non parlargli! / non gli parlare! | pronoun attached to the infinitive, or placed before non |
| Lei + pronome | non gli parli! | with Lei the pronoun always comes before the verb |
Good to know
With the tu form, an object pronoun can either attach to the infinitive (which drops its final -e) or stand before it: non parlargli! and non gli parlare! are both correct. But learners often wrongly build the negative tu by putting non before the affirmative parla — non parla! is a mistake; the negative tu imperative always uses the infinitive.