Learn Hardcore Italian: Questo frullatore è più veloce del vecchio, prepara i frullati in un minuto. - This blender is faster than the old one; it makes smoothies in a minute.

Because veloce is an adjective describing the blender’s own speed, while velocemente is an adverb describing how an action happens. The phrase “Questo frullatore è più veloce” compares a quality of the object. If you wanted to compare the action of blending, you would say:
• Frulla più velocemente del vecchio.

How do you form the “more … than” comparison with adjectives in Italian?

Use più + adjective + di (or del/della/dei + noun). Examples:
• più veloce di me
• più veloce del vecchio (di + il → del)
• più potente della lavastoviglie (di + la → della)

Why does the sentence say del vecchio and not del vecchio frullatore?

Italian often omits a noun when it’s clear from context. Here vecchio acts as a noun (“the old one”), short for frullatore vecchio.

Why do we use di after più veloce rather than che?

In Italian, comparisons of inequality with adjectives or nouns require di, not che. So you always say più veloce di….

Why is prepara in the present tense and third-person singular?

The present indicative can describe general facts or characteristics. Here prepara (“it makes”) states what the blender does as a normal feature. It’s 3rd-person singular because its subject, il frullatore, is singular.

Why is there an article i before frullati? Could it be dropped?

Italian uses the definite article with plural countable nouns to express a general category. I frullati means “shakes” in general. You could say prepara frullati in un minuto and still be understood, but including i makes it sound more natural when talking about a product’s capability.

What does in un minuto mean exactly, and can you modify it?

In un minuto indicates the time needed to complete an action (“within one minute”).
To express variations:
• “in meno di un minuto” = in less than a minute
• “in due minuti” = in two minutes

Why is there no conjunction e (“and”) between the two clauses?

In Italian it’s common—especially in informal or marketing language—to link two main clauses with just a comma. You could add e, but it’s optional here.

Why is there an accent on è in Questo frullatore è più veloce?

È (with a grave accent) is the third-person singular of the verb essere (“to be”). The conjunction e (“and”) is written without an accent, so the accent distinguishes the verb from the conjunction.

Why is it questo frullatore and not quest’ frullatore?

Italian drops the vowel of questo (becoming quest’) only before a word starting with a vowel (e.g., quest’ora). Since frullatore starts with a consonant, you use the full form questo.