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I'm just starting out learning Italian, so I do not know too much about it just yet. Onto the problem... In a few songs I've heard the phrase "non fermarti mai", which supposedly means "do not ever stop [yourself]", directed at singular 'you'. This phrase doesn't make sense to me at all. Should it not be "non ti ferma mai"? Because ferma is the singular 'you' imperative and it is reflected at themself (the 'you' person), hence ti.

I've also seen the phrase "non ti fermare", which is also weird. Why is there an infinitive of fermare?

Could someone explain how these phrases work? Or are these applications of 'artistic license' and thus technically incorrect, but used anyway to make the songs better? If so, what is or are the correct phrase or phrases? Thanks a lot!

Joffysloffy
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2 Answers2

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No poetic licence, no error. In Italian, in the second singular person, the negative form of the imperative is exactly as you have seen, non + infinitive. Compare:
mangia / non mangiare
vai (or va') / non andare
guarda / non guardare

(The plural form is like you'd guess: mangiate / non mangiate and so on.)

When there is a pronoun, for a reflexive verb as in your example or for other reasons, it can, in general, be either a separate word between non and the infinitive or attached to the infinitive (the first construction being the more traditional): non ti fermare and non fermarti are both correct, as are non lo mangiare and non mangiarlo, and so on.
In the affirmative form, modern Italian only admits the forms with the enclitic pronouns at the end (fermati, mangialo), while ti ferma, lo mangia is currently wrong (while actually an old form you could find in some opera libretto).

DaG
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  • Aah, I see! So, if there was no negation, then indeed one would use ferma as the 2nd singular person imperative: "Ti ferma!" to tell someone directly to stop? Or would this become something like "Fermati!"? What if I tell them "Stop it!"; would that be "Lo ferma!"? Would the contraction be "Fermalo!"? – Joffysloffy May 07 '14 at 16:33
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    You're right, I didn't cover this. Let me add it to my answer. – DaG May 07 '14 at 16:54
  • Thanks! It all makes sense to me now! It'd upvote your answer, but it won't let me due to insufficient reputation... – Joffysloffy May 07 '14 at 17:03
  • «Stop it!» --> «Smettila!» or, using the interrogative form, «La smetti?» –  May 08 '14 at 01:49
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    @randomatlabuser Why is it "Smettila!" rather than "Smettilo!"? I thought refering to it would be lo, just like "lo so" means "I know it". I'm unfamiliar with smettere though; is there a reason why you used this instead of fermare? – Joffysloffy May 08 '14 at 05:52
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    @Joffysloffy That is a very good question indeed! As reported in Treccani's article, "la" is sometimes used to indicate a generic situation (which is feminine). «La smetti con questa cosa? Smettila! Finiscila! Piantala!». –  May 08 '14 at 08:03
  • @randomatlabuser I see. My Italian isn't adequate to understand the article. I'll ask it therefore: does this mean that one can always use lo, but if one wants to be more specific and one knows the object or person, to which or whom one is referring, is feminine, then one may choose to use la instead? To sum up: is lo always correct and is la optional? – Joffysloffy May 08 '14 at 09:00
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    You use "la" when it is clear that you are referring to something that is feminine, "situazione", "cosa", "vicenda", "realtà", etc. –  May 08 '14 at 20:54
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    @randomatlabuser: Actually, I would not be able to point out what exactly is referred to by “la” in such expression as “finiscila” and the like. I'd simply say that they are idioms meaning “No more of it!” or whatever. “Finiscilo”, on the other hand, needs a clear object (e.g., “il piatto di pasta”) and is not an idiom but an “actual” sentence. – DaG May 08 '14 at 23:03
  • @DaG The point is that originally these were actual sentences, they got shortened and with time people just forgot what they originally referred to. «Come la va [la vita, la cosa, la vicenda, etc.]?», «Eh, la va male!», «E adesso come la mettiamo [la cosa]?», «Chi la fa [la canagliata, la cosaccia, etc.], l'aspetti!» (the examples are from Treccani's article). –  May 09 '14 at 00:48
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    @randomatlabuser: You are right, of course. I was only pointing out that in contemporary use you don't need to look or to postulate a specific object, but only to know that those verbs are used like that. – DaG May 09 '14 at 07:52
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"Non fermarti mai" is technically "Never Stop"

"Non ti fermare" is "Don't Stop"

"Non ti ferma mai" is "He/she/it never stops you".

The song author probably is just saying that you should never stop doing something, not that someone should never stop you.

Fermare, as you said, is indeed the infinitive of fermare (to stop).

0x90
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  • I don't quite see why though. Wouldn't you use the imperative for that, not the infinitive? That seems really odd. Moreover, what kind of conjugation is fermarti; I cannot find it anywhere? I know that "non ti ferma mai" means "It/He never stops you", because ferma is the 3rd person singular indicative form of fermare, but it is also the 2nd person singular imperative form of fermare, so why is that not used in these cases, since the song makes it clear that it is the intention of the author to say that. Thanks! – Joffysloffy May 07 '14 at 16:17
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    Fermarti is "fermare te". It is a negative reflexive form. It is build with an infinitive and a personal pronoun. The positive reflexive form is built with imperativee + personal pronoun: Fermati – Bruno9779 May 07 '14 at 16:22
  • Ooh, I see! Thank you. Does this mean that one would solely use the 2nd singular person imperative ferma if it is used non-reflexively and non-negatively? – Joffysloffy May 07 '14 at 16:39
  • @Joffysloffy correct, if you mean to say that the person you are addressing to is mean to stop something or somebody – user1301428 May 07 '14 at 21:20