Learn Italian: Quanto latte e quanto caffè prendi? - How much milk and how much coffee do you take?

Quanto latte e quanto caffè prendi?

How much milk and how much coffee do you take?

Breakdown of Quanto latte e quanto caffè prendi?

Questions & Answers about Quanto latte e quanto caffè prendi?

Why is it quanto both times?

The word quanto (how much/how many) changes its ending to match the noun it describes. Both latte (milk) and caffè (coffee) are masculine singular nouns, so we use the masculine singular form, quanto, for both.

Latte ends in '-e'. How do we know it is masculine?

Nouns ending in '-e' in Italian can be either masculine or feminine, so you often just have to memorize their gender. However, looking at the words around them is a great trick! Because the sentence uses quanto latte instead of quanta latte, you can immediately tell that latte is masculine.

Does prendi mean 'drink' here?

Prendi literally means 'you take' (from the verb prendere). Just like in English, Italians often use the verb 'to take' when talking about having food and drinks, or asking how you 'take' your coffee.

Why is there no article like il before latte or caffè?

When you use quanto directly before a noun to mean 'how much' or 'how many', you drop the definite article. It works exactly like English: you say 'how much milk', not 'how much the milk'.