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Devo rifornire l’auto di benzina prima del viaggio.

Devo rifornire l’auto di benzina prima del viaggio.
I need to refill the car with gasoline before the trip.
FromLesson 30inHardcore Italian
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Questions & Answers about Devo rifornire l’auto di benzina prima del viaggio.

What does rifornire mean in this sentence and is it transitive?

Rifornire means to refill or to supply something with what it needs. It’s a transitive verb, so the structure is:

  • Direct object: what you refill (l’auto)
  • Complement introduced by di: what you supply (benzina)
    Thus rifornire l’auto di benzina = to fill up the car with gasoline.
Why is there an apostrophe in l’auto?
In Italian, the feminine article la elides to l’ before a vowel. So instead of la auto, you write l’auto. This elision makes pronunciation smoother.
Why do we use di before benzina and not another preposition?
With rifornire, the standard construction is rifornire [object] di [substance]. The preposition di indicates what you are supplying. Using con (with) would sound odd here; for “fill with” you’d say riempire il serbatoio con benzina, but with rifornire you stick to di benzina.
Why isn’t there an article before benzina?

Here benzina is a mass noun introduced by di to indicate content. Italian typically drops the article in such partitive or content constructions:

  • di benzina (correct)
  • di la benzina (incorrect)
Can I say la macchina instead of l’auto?

Yes. Both auto and macchina mean “car” and are feminine:

  • l’auto (elided article)
  • la macchina
Why is Devo used instead of Dovrei or another tense?

Devo is the present indicative of dovere, expressing a strong necessity (I have to). If you want a softer suggestion (I should), use the conditional:

  • Dovrei rifornire l’auto di benzina prima del viaggio.
What does prima del viaggio literally mean, and why is there a contraction del?

Prima di means before. When di meets the definite article il, they contract to del:

  • prima di + il viaggio → prima del viaggio = before the trip.
Are there more colloquial ways to say “fill up the car with gas” in Italian?

Yes, you can say:

  • fare il pieno di benzina (literally to make the full of gas), a very common everyday expression
  • riempire il serbatoio di benzina, focusing on the tank (il serbatoio)
What’s the difference between rifornire l’auto di benzina and riempire il serbatoio di benzina?

They’re largely interchangeable:

  • Rifornire l’auto di benzina refers to the car as a whole
  • Riempire il serbatoio di benzina explicitly mentions the tank (serbatoio)
    Both convey “to fill the car with gasoline.”
Why is the object l’auto placed before the complement di benzina in the sentence?

Italian word order for this verb is:

  1. rifornire (verb)
  2. direct object (l’auto)
  3. complement introduced by di (di benzina)
    Putting di benzina before l’auto would sound marked or poetic in everyday speech.

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