Learn Hardcore French: La consommation de carburant réduit notre budget.

Yes, you can generally think of la consommation de carburant as the natural French way to say fuel consumption (e.g. in cars, machines, heating, etc.).

Why de carburant and not du carburant after consommation?

In French, many nouns that express a measure, quantity, or use are followed by a bare de + noun when they describe a general type of thing:

la consommation de carburant = fuel consumption (in general)
la consommation de sucre = sugar consumption
la consommation d’eau = water consumption

Using du would sound like you are talking about some specific quantity of fuel in a particular context (more like “consumption of some fuel”), which is not what we want here. We’re talking about fuel consumption as a concept or general habit, so de (without article) is the normal pattern.

What gender are consommation and budget, and how can I tell?

consommation is feminine: la consommation
budget is masculine: le budget

How to tell:

Nouns ending in -tion (like consommation, nation, information) are almost always feminine in French. This is a very reliable pattern.
budget doesn’t follow a clear rule; you usually have to learn its gender with the word: un budget, le budget.

In the sentence:

la before consommation tells you it’s feminine.
notre doesn’t change with gender, so it doesn’t help you with budget, but dictionaries always mark budget (n. m.) for nom masculin.

What tense and person is réduit, and what is the infinitive form?

réduit here is the 3rd person singular, present tense of the verb réduire.
réduire means to reduce.

So:

je réduis = I reduce
tu réduis = you reduce (singular)
il / elle / on réduit = he / she / one reduces
nous réduisons = we reduce
vous réduisez = you reduce (plural / formal)
ils / elles réduisent = they reduce

In the sentence, the subject is la consommation de carburant (treated as it), so we use il/elle form: réduit.

Why is it réduit and not réduis or réduire?

Because réduit agrees with the subject:

The subject la consommation de carburant is 3rd person singular (like it in English).
The present tense, 3rd person singular form of réduire is réduit.

Compare:

Je réduis notre budget. = I reduce our budget.
La consommation de carburant réduit notre budget. = Fuel consumption reduces our budget.

réduis is used with je or tu, and réduire is the infinitive form (“to reduce”), which you do not use as the main finite verb in this simple sentence.

How do I know that la consommation de carburant is the subject, and not notre budget?

Look at the structure:

La consommation de carburant = noun phrase
réduit = verb
notre budget = noun phrase

In French (as in English) the basic order is Subject – Verb – Object.

Ask yourself: What is doing the action of reducing?

It is la consommation de carburant (fuel consumption).
notre budget is what gets reduced, therefore it is the direct object.

So the pattern is:

Subject: La consommation de carburant
Verb: réduit
Object: notre budget

Exactly like: Fuel consumption reduces our budget.

Why is it notre budget and not nos budget?

In French, notre vs nos depends on whether the thing owned is singular or plural, not on how many people own it:

notre = our (before a singular noun, masculine or feminine)
nos = our (before a plural noun)

Since budget is singular, we say:

notre budget = our budget
but nos budgets = our budgets

The number of owners (“we”) doesn’t change the form; only the number of the noun (budget / budgets) does.

Can I drop the article and say Consommation de carburant réduit notre budget?

Normally, no. In standard French you almost always need an article in front of a noun like consommation in a full sentence.

Correct is:

La consommation de carburant réduit notre budget.

Without la, Consommation de carburant réduit notre budget sounds truncated, more like a telegraphic headline or note in a diagram, not a normal sentence.

In titles or bullet points you might see something like that, but for regular spoken or written French, keep la.

What is the difference between carburant and essence? Could we say la consommation d’essence?

carburant = fuel in a broad sense, especially fuel used to power engines (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, etc.).
essence = petrol / gasoline (specifically).

So:

la consommation de carburant = fuel consumption (in general, any kind of engine fuel)
la consommation d’essence = gasoline/petrol consumption (specifically that type of fuel)

You can say la consommation d’essence réduit notre budget if you specifically mean gasoline. The original sentence is just a bit more general.

Is the word order in this French sentence the same as in English?

Yes, very similar:

French: La consommation de carburant réduit notre budget.
English: Fuel consumption reduces our budget.

Structure:

Subject: La consommation de carburant / Fuel consumption
Verb: réduit / reduces
Object: notre budget / our budget

The internal structure consommation de carburant (“consumption of fuel”) is also parallel to English; French often keeps de where English might use a noun compound (fuel consumption).

How do you pronounce carburant and réduit?

Approximate guide (not strict phonetic symbols):

carburant: kar-bü-RAHN
- car = like car
- bu = like byu or bü (French u is pronounced with rounded lips)
- rant = nasal sound, like rah with the n not fully pronounced
réduit: ray-DWEE
- ré = like ray
- duit = like dwee

Connected speech example:

La consommation de carburant réduit notre budget.
Stressed mainly on -rant, -duit, -dget.