Stai dentro fino a quando non do il segnale.

Sentence Discussions Italian
#1
English Translation

Stay inside until I give the signal.

What is the “non” here for? Is there a difference in meaning between “stai dentro fino a quando non do il segnale” and “stai dentro fino a quando do il segnale.”?

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#2

Ehilà! I believe this is one of those famous Italian double negatives that take a bit of getting used to. I often go by the elegance or rhythm of the sentence … here it would be quite hard to say “fino a quando do…” and this reminds me to add the non.

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#3

It is indeed hard to get used to.
My favorite sentence to remember this rule is:
“Ti amo fino a quando / finché non muoio.”

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#4

I like it! Ciao ciao!