English Translation
Can I take photographs here?
Why is fare shortened to far here? Is it interchangeable or am I not understanding a fundamental rule. Grazie!
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Hi. I understand that “far foto” is a standard Italian phrase for “taking photos”. I’ve seen it written this way in many penfriend letters. 
Sì sì , our club madrelingua confirm this is a regular colloquial phrase.
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If there is a general rule about when to use the short form of the infinitive, I am not aware of it.
It is common with the often used verbs like aver, voler, poter, far, when they are followed by another verb or in fixed expressions like this one here.
Of course, it is required when the infinitive is combined with a pronoun (e.g. farmi), but that’s another topic.
Otherwise, I don’t think so much about it. After all, when Italians talk, most of the time you cannot hear the difference 
.
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More info. Far (qualcosa) is used more in the north and Fare (qualcosa) more in central and southern Italy.
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