Non mi costringere a chiamare il dottore!

Hi,

In 8.8, there's a translation for:

Don't force me to call the doctor!

.. which is given as:

Non mi costringere a chiamare il dottore!

Why is the infinitive used for costringere here and not costringi?

Thanks!
Drew

Hi Drew,

Unlike English, the Italian negative imperative uses the infinitive mood.
If you'd say Non mi costringi a chiamare il dottore, you would say a different sentence, "You don't force me to call the doctor". It would be a statement, not an order.

Other examples:
Non aprire la finestra! - Don't open the window!
Non saltare sul letto! - Don't jump on the bed!
Non farmi da mangiare stasera / Non mi fare da mangiare stasera - Don't cook dinner for me tonight

Positive imperatives use conjugations:
Apri la finestra! - Open the window!
Salta sul letto! - Jump on the bed!
Fammi da mangiare stasera - Cook dinner for me tonight

Hope this helps!

Lucia

Thanks Lucia, that makes sense. I thought I'd seen conjugations like that in imperatives but it must have been the positive ones.

Cheers, Drew