Learn Italian: Se la perdita aumenta, il profitto diminuisce. - If the loss increases, the profit decreases.

Se la perdita aumenta, il profitto diminuisce.

If the loss increases, the profit decreases.

Breakdown of Se la perdita aumenta, il profitto diminuisce.

Questions & Answers about Se la perdita aumenta, il profitto diminuisce.

Both verbs here are in the present tense. Does this still count as the first conditional?

Yes! This sentence uses the present tense for both verbs (aumenta and diminuisce) because it describes a general, guaranteed fact. When talking about a specific future possibility, Italian allows you to use the future tense in both the 'if' part and the result part, which is different from English!

Why does the verb diminuisce have an 'isc' in the middle?

Diminuire (to decrease) belongs to a specific group of verbs ending in '-ire'. In the present tense, these verbs add the letters -isc- between the root of the word and the ending for the io, tu, lui/lei, and loro forms. Since 'the profit' acts as a third-person singular (it), the verb becomes diminuisce.

How do I pronounce the 'sc' in diminuisce?

Because the sc is followed by the vowel e, it makes a soft sound, just like the English 'sh' in 'sheep'. You pronounce the ending as 'EE-sheh'.

Is the noun perdita (loss) related to a verb we already know?

Exactly! It comes directly from the verb perdere, which means 'to lose' or 'to miss' (like a train). Learning these direct noun-verb pairs is a great way to quickly expand your vocabulary at this level.