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Il consumo di benzina in città è alto.

Il consumo di benzina in città è alto.
Gas consumption in the city is high.
FromLesson 34inHardcore Italian

Questions & Answers about Il consumo di benzina in città è alto.

What does consumo mean in this sentence?
Consumo is a noun meaning “consumption” or “use.” Here it refers to the amount of gasoline used, especially as a general, uncountable idea (mass noun).
Why is there di after consumo and no article before benzina?
In Italian, when you indicate what something consists of (the substance being consumed), you use di + noun without an article for a generic meaning. So consumo di benzina means “gasoline consumption” in general. If you wanted to specify “the consumption of the gasoline,” you could say il consumo della benzina, but that makes it specific.
Why is benzina feminine, and does it affect other words?
All Italian nouns have grammatical gender. Benzina ends in -a, so it’s feminine. However, in this phrase adjectives and past participles agree with consumo (masculine), not with benzina, because consumo is the head noun.
Why is the adjective alto masculine, when benzina is feminine?
The adjective agrees with the noun it modifies. Here alto refers to consumo (masculine singular), not benzina. If you were describing benzina directly, you’d say benzina alta, but that would change the meaning to “tall/high gasoline,” which doesn’t make sense.
What’s the function of in città? Why not nella città?

In città means “in town” or “in the city” in a general sense. Italians often drop the article with certain place expressions:

  • in montagna (in the mountains)
  • in centro (downtown)
    Using nella città would specify a particular city (“in the city itself as opposed to suburbs”), but in general statements we say in città.
Why does città have an accent, and is its plural form different?
The accent on città indicates stress on the final syllable (cit-TÀ). Both singular and plural are written città, so you rely on context or articles (una città / le città) to tell them apart.
Why is there an accent on è and not just e?

È with a grave accent is the third-person singular present of essere (“to be”). Without the accent, e means “and.” The accent distinguishes them:

  • è alto = “is high”
  • e alto = “and tall” (nonsensical here)
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