Breakdown of Che cosa ascoltate in macchina?
la macchina
car
in
in / made of (material)
ascoltare
to listen / to listen to
che
what
Questions & Answers about Che cosa ascoltate in macchina?
Why does the sentence use che cosa for "what" instead of just one word?
How do we know who is listening if there is no pronoun like "you"?
Why isn't there an Italian word for "to" after ascoltate?
In English we say "listen to," but the Italian verb ascoltare already has the "to" built into its meaning. You just put the thing you are listening to directly after the verb without adding any extra prepositions.
Why is it in macchina instead of nella macchina (in the car)?
When talking about traveling by a certain mode of transportation, Italian usually leaves out the "the" (the definite article). You just use in plus the noun, like in macchina (by/in the car) or in treno (by/on the train).