🔍 In short. Italian has five verbs whose informal tu command shrinks to a single syllable with an apostrophe: di’ (say), fa’ (do/make), va’ (go), da’ (give), sta’ (stay). They are the five short Italian commands every learner meets in the first weeks. The full forms dici, fai, vai, dai, stai exist too and stay correct, but as soon as a pronoun attaches the short form takes over and the next letter doubles: dimmi (tell me), fammi (do for me), vacci (go there), dammi (give me), stammi (stay with me). One small exception: with gli the letter never doubles, so it stays digli, dagli. This A2 guide covers the five forms, when to use the short version, the doubling trick, the negative, and a kitchen dialogue in Lucca with mum and son.
Italian short imperative forms look tiny on the page but power most informal commands you hear in a family kitchen, on a bike path, in a queue at the post office. Learn the five and you handle ninety percent of the bossy phrases Italians use with friends, partners, kids, and pets.
Cosa impareremo oggi
👆🏻 Jump to section
- The five Italian short imperative forms
- Full form or short form: when each one wins
- The doubling trick: dimmi, fammi, vacci, dammi, stammi
- The one exception: gli never doubles
- Two pronouns at once: dimmelo, dammene, vattene
- The negative: non dire, non fare, non andare
- Cheat sheet: the five Italian short commands
- Dialogue in a Lucca kitchen
- Mini-challenge
- Frequently asked questions
- Related guides
The five Italian short imperative forms
Five everyday verbs build an Italian short imperative: a special tu command that drops the ending and keeps only one syllable. The apostrophe marks the missing letters of each Italian short imperative: fa’ stands for what would otherwise be fai, va’ for vai, and so on. These are the Italian short imperative forms you will hear before any others.
- dire → di’ (say, tell)
- fare → fa’ (do, make)
- andare → va’ (go)
- dare → da’ (give)
- stare → sta’ (stay, be)
These five verbs are among the most frequent in the language, which is why they earned their own shape. Each Italian short imperative ends with an apostrophe, not an accent. Writing dì with a grave accent has spread online but the careful spelling, recommended by Treccani for consistency with the other four, is di’ with an apostrophe. The grave accent dà is reserved for dare in the third person present indicative (lui dà un libro); the Italian short imperative is da’.
- Di’ la verità a tuo padre.
Tell your father the truth. - Fa’ attenzione, scotta!
Be careful, it’s hot! - Va’ a letto, è tardi.
Go to bed, it’s late. - Da’ un bacio alla nonna.
Give grandma a kiss. - Sta’ fermo un secondo, per favore.
Stay still for a second, please.
Two small notes before moving on. First, derivatives of dire do not have an Italian short imperative: benedire gives benedici, maledire gives maledici, contraddire gives contraddici. Only the bare dire keeps the Italian short imperative shape. Second, the truncated forms sta, va, fa, da without apostrophe were common centuries ago but are archaic today. And the accented spellings stà, và, fà, dà (with grave accent) are simply wrong: Treccani and Crusca both flag them as a frequent classroom slip to fix. The clean Italian short imperative always closes with an apostrophe.
Full form or short form: when each one wins
Four of the five verbs (fare, andare, dare, stare) keep a full version of the tu command alongside the Italian short imperative: fai, vai, dai, stai. Both the short and full forms are correct, and most speakers feel them as interchangeable when the verb stands alone. The choice becomes mandatory only when a pronoun follows, and there the Italian short imperative wins every time.
- Va’ a casa! / Vai a casa! (both natural; same meaning)
- Fa’ come ti dice la nonna! / Fai come ti dice la nonna!
Do what grandma tells you to do! - Sta’ tranquillo / Stai tranquillo
Stay calm / Don’t worry.
Once a pronoun joins the party, only the short form survives. That is, you say dammi, never daimi, and vattene, never vaitene. The full form dici stays for the present indicative (tu dici sempre la verità); for the command-with-pronoun you only have di’ + pronoun → dimmi.
One more curiosity. Dai alone has a second life as an exclamation, separate from the Italian short imperative. When an Italian sighs Ma dai, non ci credo! (“Come on, no way!”) or cheers Dai, dai, ce la fai! (“Come on, come on, you can do it!”), the verb is no longer giving a command to someone but acting as a small word of encouragement, surprise or disbelief. In that role only dai works, never da’: Ma dai! is fixed.
🎯 Mini-task: Fill the gap with one Italian short imperative form (di’, fa’, va’, da’, sta’).
- _____ piano con quel piatto, è di porcellana!
- _____ subito a tuo fratello che la cena è pronta.
- _____ a comprare il pane, per favore.
- _____ una mano alla mamma a sparecchiare.
- _____ tranquilla, arrivo tra cinque minuti.
👉 Show answers
1. Fa’ piano (be careful / go gently)
2. Di’ subito a tuo fratello (tell your brother)
3. Va’ a comprare il pane (go buy the bread)
4. Da’ una mano alla mamma (give mum a hand)
5. Sta’ tranquilla (stay calm)
The doubling trick: dimmi, fammi, vacci, dammi, stammi
Here comes the feature that makes the Italian short imperative recognisable from a kilometre away: when a pronoun attaches, the first letter of the pronoun doubles. The apostrophe of the Italian short imperative disappears, the pronoun glues onto the verb, and the next consonant duplicates in both speech and spelling.
- di’ + mi → dimmi (tell me)
- fa’ + mi → fammi (do for me, show me)
- va’ + ci → vacci (go there)
- da’ + mi → dammi (give me)
- sta’ + mi → stammi (stay me)
This is the rhythm of family Italian, and the Italian short imperative sits right at the centre of it. A mum in Lucca calling her son for lunch will not say “dici a tuo fratello che è pronto”; she will say “dillo a tuo fratello che è pronto” or simply “diglielo”. The doubling that follows the Italian short imperative is what the ear expects, and using a single consonant sounds foreign or robotic. The same rhythm applies to every pronoun that starts with a consonant: mi, ti, ci, vi, lo, la, le, li, ne.
- Dimmi dove hai messo le chiavi.
Tell me where you put the keys. - Fammi vedere il disegno che hai fatto a scuola.
Show me the drawing you made at school. - Vacci piano con il sale, sennò il sugo diventa immangiabile.
Go easy on the salt, otherwise the sauce becomes inedible. - Dammi due minuti e arrivo.
Give me two minutes and I’ll be there. - Stammi vicino mentre attraversiamo la strada.
Stay close to me while we cross the street. - Fallo subito, non rimandare.
Do it now, don’t put it off. - Dille che la aspetto giù in cortile.
Tell her I’m waiting downstairs in the courtyard. - Vattene, sono stanca di sentirti.
Get out of here, I’m tired of hearing you.
If you are wondering why the consonant doubles after an Italian short imperative: this is the central-southern Italian rhythm of speech surfacing in writing for these specific forms. With most words the doubling stays only in the pronunciation, but here Italian commits it to the spelling. You will not find dimi or fami in any dictionary; the doubled spelling that follows the Italian short imperative is the only correct one.
The one exception: gli never doubles
One pronoun escapes the doubling rule of the Italian short imperative: gli (to him, to them). It joins the Italian short imperative without changing its spelling.
- di’ + gli → digli (tell him / tell them)
- da’ + gli → dagli (give him / give them)
- fa’ + gli → fagli (do for him)
- va’ + gli → vagli (go to him; rare but possible)
- sta’ + gli → stagli (stay near him)
The reason this Italian short imperative + gli combination keeps a single g is phonetic: the sound gl in gli is already a single soft sound, not a real “g + l” cluster. Italian writing cannot double gl into ggl, so the spelling stays digli, dagli. In speech a native speaker will pronounce that gl with a touch more weight, almost as if doubled, but the page keeps a single letter.
- Digli che lo aspetto al cancello.
Tell him I’m waiting at the gate. - Dagli il libro che gli avevi promesso.
Give him the book you had promised him. - Fagli una telefonata stasera, sarà contento.
Give him a call tonight, he’ll be happy. - Stagli vicino, è la sua prima settimana di scuola.
Stay close to him, it’s his first week of school.
Remember this gli exception and you cover all the cases of the Italian short imperative + pronoun. Every other pronoun doubles its initial consonant after an Italian short imperative; gli alone does not.
Two pronouns at once: dimmelo, dammene, vattene
Sometimes you need to say not just “tell me” but “tell me it”, not just “give me” but “give me some”. The Italian short imperative handles a pair of pronouns the same way as a single one: it glues both onto the verb and the doubling still happens on the first one. The Italian short imperative chain reads as one word.
- di’ + me + lo → dimmelo (tell it to me)
- da’ + me + ne → dammene (give me some)
- fa’ + ce + lo → faccelo (do it for us)
- va’ + te + ne → vattene (get yourself out of here)
- sta’ + ce + ne → staccene (stay out of it; less common)
When two pronouns combine, the indirect comes first, then the direct: me lo, te lo, ce lo, ve lo, glielo. Attached to the Italian short imperative, the first one doubles its consonant and the chain follows:
- Dimmelo subito, non aspettare.
Tell it to me right away, don’t wait. - Dammene un po’, non riesco a prendere il barattolo.
Give me a bit, I can’t reach the jar. - Vattene a letto, è quasi mezzanotte!
Get to bed, it’s almost midnight! - Faccelo sapere quando arrivi a Lucca.
Let us know when you get to Lucca. - Diglielo tu, io non me la sento.
You tell him about it, I can’t bring myself to.
The last example, diglielo, is the only chain in this Italian short imperative group where the doubling does not happen because the first pronoun is gli. Everywhere else the rhythm holds: first consonant of the first pronoun doubles after the Italian short imperative, everything else attaches cleanly.
The negative: non dire, non fare, non andare
The Italian short imperative vanishes when you tell someone not to do something. The negative tu command of any Italian verb uses non + infinitive, so the Italian short imperative shape simply does not appear:
- Non dire bugie alla nonna.
Don’t tell lies to grandma. - Non fare rumore, papà sta dormendo.
Don’t make noise, dad is sleeping. - Non andare via senza salutare.
Don’t leave without saying goodbye. - Non dare retta a tuo fratello quando ti prende in giro.
Don’t listen to your brother when he teases you. - Non stare lì in piedi, siediti.
Don’t just stand there, sit down.
With a pronoun in the negative, two positions are both correct: before the infinitive, attached to the end of the infinitive (which drops its final -e). So non lo dire = non dirlo, non lo fare = non farlo, non ci andare = non andarci. The doubling rule does not apply in the negative, because the verb is the infinitive, not the Italian short imperative.
- Non dirlo a nessuno. / Non lo dire a nessuno.
Don’t tell anyone. - Non farlo arrabbiare. / Non lo fare arrabbiare.
Don’t make him angry. - Non andarci da sola la sera.
Don’t go there alone at night. - Non dargli più caramelle prima di cena.
Don’t give him any more sweets before dinner.
Cheat sheet: the five Italian short commands
All five Italian short imperative forms with the doubling effect on the most common pronouns. Keep this open while you build your first sentences with these short commands.
| Verb | Full form | Short form | + mi | + lo | + ci | + gli (no double) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dire | dici | di’ | dimmi | dillo | dicci | digli |
| fare | fai | fa’ | fammi | fallo | facci | fagli |
| andare | vai | va’ | vammi (not used) | vallo (not used) | vacci | vagli |
| dare | dai | da’ | dammi | dallo | dacci | dagli |
| stare | stai | sta’ | stammi | stallo (rare) | stacci | stagli |
Two practical reads of this Italian short imperative table. First, the most common verbs in this group (dire, fare, dare) build the most common combinations: dimmi, dammi, fammi, dimmelo, dammelo, fammelo. These are the Italian short imperative phrases you will use ten times a day. Second, andare and stare mostly pair with ci (vacci, stacci) and the reflexive te (vattene); other Italian short imperative combinations are technically possible but you will rarely hear them.
🎯 Mini-task: Glue the pronoun to the short imperative. Mind the doubling (and the gli exception).
- fa’ + mi vedere → ?
- da’ + ci una mano → ?
- va’ + ci tu, io sono stanca → ?
- di’ + gli grazie → ?
- sta’ + mi vicino → ?
- da’ + me ne due → ?
- di’ + me lo subito → ?
- va’ + te ne a casa → ?
👉 Show answers
1. fammi vedere (show me)
2. dacci una mano (give us a hand)
3. vacci tu (you go there)
4. digli grazie (no doubling: gli exception)
5. stammi vicino (stay close to me)
6. dammene due (give me two of them)
7. dimmelo subito (tell it to me now)
8. vattene a casa (get yourself home)
Dialogue in a Lucca kitchen
Carolina is rolling out ravioli with her eight-year-old son Nicola in their apartment near Piazza dell’Anfiteatro in Lucca. Grandma is on her way over. Watch every Italian short imperative: di’, fa’, va’, da’, sta’ with and without pronouns.
👩🏼🦰 Carolina: Nicola, va’ a lavarti le mani prima di toccare l’impasto.
Nicola, go wash your hands before touching the dough.
👨🏽🦱 Nicola: Vado, mamma. Posso usare il tuo sapone, quello al limone?
I’m going, mum. Can I use your soap, the lemon one?
👩🏼🦰 Carolina: Sì, ma fa’ in fretta. La nonna arriva tra mezz’ora e dobbiamo finire i ravioli.
Yes, but be quick. Grandma’s arriving in half an hour and we have to finish the ravioli.
👨🏽🦱 Nicola: Mamma, dimmi una cosa: perché si dice “dimmi” e non “dimi”?
Mum, tell me one thing: why do we say “dimmi” and not “dimi”?
👩🏼🦰 Carolina: Perché quando si attacca il pronome al comando corto, la lettera raddoppia. Dimmi, fammi, dammi. Sta’ attento, l’impasto è quasi pronto.
Because when you attach the pronoun to the short command, the letter doubles. Dimmi, fammi, dammi. Pay attention, the dough is almost ready.
👨🏽🦱 Nicola: Allora si dice anche “digli”? Devo dire qualcosa allo zio Federico?
So you say “digli” too? Do I have to tell uncle Federico something?
👩🏼🦰 Carolina: Bravo. “Digli” sì, ma senza doppia, perché con gli la lettera non si raddoppia. È l’unica eccezione. E dagli un bacio quando lo vedi sabato.
Well done. “Digli” yes, but with no double letter, because with gli the letter doesn’t double. It’s the only exception. And give him a kiss when you see him on Saturday.
👨🏽🦱 Nicola: D’accordo. Ora dammi il mattarello, voglio stenderlo io.
Okay. Now give me the rolling pin, I want to roll it out.
👩🏼🦰 Carolina: Tieni. Fammi vedere come fai. Vacci piano, sennò si rompe.
Here. Show me how you do it. Go slowly, otherwise it’ll tear.
👨🏽🦱 Nicola: Vado piano, tranquilla. Ma stammi accanto, non sono sicuro della pressione.
I’m going slowly, don’t worry. But stay next to me, I’m not sure about the pressure.
👩🏼🦰 Carolina: Eccomi qui. Adesso fa’ attenzione ai bordi, devono restare sottili.
I’m right here. Now watch the edges, they have to stay thin.
👨🏽🦱 Nicola: Mamma, suona il citofono. Sarà la nonna!
Mum, the intercom is ringing. It must be grandma!
👩🏼🦰 Carolina: Va’ tu ad aprire, ho le mani sporche di farina. E dille che siamo in cucina.
You go open, my hands are dirty with flour. And tell her we’re in the kitchen.
What to notice in the dialogue
- Va’ a lavarti, fa’ in fretta, sta’ attento: bare Italian short imperative + complement, no pronoun attached.
- Dimmi, dammi, fammi vedere, stammi accanto: Italian short imperative + pronoun, doubling visible in the spelling.
- Digli, dagli un bacio, dille che siamo in cucina: notice digli stays single because of the gli exception, while dille doubles because le starts with a consonant.
- Vacci piano: vacci is the most common andare + pronoun combination, used here as “go gently”.
- Va’ tu: Italian short imperative with a free subject pronoun for emphasis (“YOU go”, as opposed to me).
Mini-challenge
🎯 Final challenge: Translate into natural Italian using an Italian short imperative (di’, fa’, va’, da’, sta’) plus the pronoun in brackets.
- Give me (a me) two slices of bread, please.
- Tell him (a lui) to call grandma tonight.
- Stay (con me) close to me at the market.
- Show me (a me) how the lemon soap smells.
- Go (lì) at six, the shop closes at seven.
- Don’t tell him (a lui) before Saturday.
- Get (te) to bed, it’s almost ten.
- Give us (a noi) a couple of minutes to finish.
👉 Show answers
1. Dammi due fette di pane, per favore. (da’ + mi → doubling)
2. Digli di chiamare la nonna stasera. (di’ + gli → no doubling)
3. Stammi vicino al mercato. (sta’ + mi → doubling)
4. Fammi sentire il profumo del sapone al limone. (fa’ + mi → doubling)
5. Vacci alle sei, il negozio chiude alle sette. (va’ + ci → doubling)
6. Non dirglielo prima di sabato. (negative = non + infinitive + pronouns; no doubling)
7. Vattene a letto, sono quasi le dieci. (va’ + te + ne → doubling on the first one)
8. Dacci un paio di minuti per finire. (da’ + ci → doubling)
The five Italian short imperative forms become reflex with use, not with theory. The fastest path is to listen for them in family videos, podcasts and films, and to copy the rhythm into your own everyday speech. Once dimmi, fammi, vacci, dammi, stammi roll off your tongue without thinking, you have crossed a small but important line: your Italian sounds like home Italian, not textbook Italian.
Test your understanding
Take the quiz below to test what you have learned about the Italian short imperative forms.
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Frequently asked questions
These questions about the Italian short imperative forms come from learner forums and family conversations. The orthographic guidance comes from the Treccani entry on imperativo.
Is it di’ or di with an accent (dì)?
The careful spelling is di’ with an apostrophe, marking the dropped letters of dici. The grave-accent spelling di has spread online and is widely tolerated, but Treccani recommends the apostrophe for consistency with the other four short imperatives (fa’, va’, da’, sta’). The accented form dì on its own also exists as the noun meaning ‘day’ in poetic language (il dì di festa = the day of celebration), which is one more reason to keep the imperative spelled di’ to avoid confusion.
Why does the next letter double after di’, fa’, va’, da’, sta’?
It is the central-southern Italian rhythm of speech surfacing in the writing for these specific forms. In most contexts Italian doubles consonants only in pronunciation (a phenomenon you can hear after a, e, che and other short words) but does not write them. For the five short imperatives, however, the doubling reaches the page: dimmi, fammi, dammi, vacci, stammi. The doubled spelling is the only correct one; dimi or fami do not exist in standard Italian.
Why doesn’t the consonant double with gli (digli, dagli)?
Because gl in Italian is a single soft sound, not a real cluster of g + l. The spelling cannot show a doubling that the writing system has no way to represent: ggl is not a valid Italian sequence. So digli and dagli keep their single g, even though native ears perceive a slight strengthening of the sound when they pronounce them. This is the one exception you have to remember in the whole pattern: every other pronoun doubles, gli does not.
Can I use fai instead of fa’ when I am giving a command?
Yes, on its own. Fai come ti dice la nonna and Fa’ come ti dice la nonna are both correct and both natural; most speakers feel them as interchangeable. The choice becomes mandatory only when a pronoun follows: there you have to use the short form. You say fammi vedere, never faimi vedere; you say dammi la mano, never daimi la mano. So if the verb stands alone, both forms work; with a pronoun, only the short form survives.
How do I say a negative command with these verbs?
The negative tu command of any Italian verb uses non + infinitive, so the short forms simply do not appear in the negative. Non dire bugie, non fare rumore, non andare via, non dare retta, non stare li in piedi. With a pronoun the two positions are both correct: non lo dire = non dirlo, non ci andare = non andarci. There is no doubling in the negative because the verb is no longer a short imperative; it is an infinitive.
Are there other Italian verbs with a short imperative form like these?
No, only these five: dire, fare, andare, dare, stare. Even the verbs derived from dire have regular imperatives, not short ones: benedire keeps benedici, maledire keeps maledici, contraddire keeps contraddici. All other Italian verbs follow the standard tu imperative pattern, which is identical to the present indicative for -are verbs (canta, parla, mangia) and to the second person for -ere and -ire verbs (prendi, dormi, finisci). The five short forms are a closed group, a small irregular corner that you can memorise in a single sitting.
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Related guides
- Italian Vieni e Ti Spiego, Taci o…: Imperative + E/O: how the Italian imperative pairs with a conjunction to promise or warn.
- Italian Lasciare + Infinitive: Lascia Stare and More: pronoun attachment with imperatives in the lascia family.
- Italian Corri Corri: Doubled Verbs as Adverbs: when Italian doubles imperatives for rhythm and emphasis.
- Treccani: Imperativo: the institutional reference on the Italian imperative, including the short forms.
