astengono

Astengono is a present-tense verb form in Italian that expresses abstention or restraint. It is the third-person plural form and can appear as the non-reflexive form of the transitive verb astengere, meaning to refrain from or to withhold. In common usage, the reflexive variant si astengono is more frequently seen when the subject abstains from an action in which they would participate, such as voting.

In everyday Italian, the most typical expression of abstaining is the reflexive construction with the pronoun, as in they abstain: si astengono. The bare form astengono exists in the transitive sense, where a subject refrains from performing an action or from engaging in a particular activity, often followed by a preposition or infinitive phrase (for example, astengono dall’andare avanti, or astengono dall’acquistare determinate merci).

Usage notes:

- The reflexive si astengono is standard in formal and informal contexts when referring to people abstaining from an action.

- The non-reflexive form astengono is used when describing the act of abstaining in a transitive sense, sometimes with a direct object or with a prepositional complement (e.g., astengono dal votare).

Semantically, astengono belongs to the family of verbs that denote restraint, abstention, or forbearance, and it closely relates to the noun astensione (abstention) and to related verbs such as astenersi and astenersi.

See also: astensione, astenersi, astenevole (related terms describing restraint).