Learn Italian: I consumatori cambiano abitudini sempre più rapidamente. - Consumers change habits more and more rapidly.

I consumatori cambiano abitudini sempre più rapidamente.

Consumers change habits more and more rapidly.

Breakdown of I consumatori cambiano abitudini sempre più rapidamente.

sempre

always

più

more / anymore (with 'non')

Questions & Answers about I consumatori cambiano abitudini sempre più rapidamente.

Why do we use sempre più to mean "more and more"?

In Italian, the structure for a progressive increase ("more and more" or "increasingly") is sempre più followed by an adjective or adverb. You literally say "always more". Here, paired with the adverb rapidamente, it means "more and more rapidly".

Why is there a definite article before consumatori but not before abitudini?

Italian requires definite articles for general categories acting as the subject, so "consumers" becomes i consumatori. However, for a general plural object closely tied to the verb's action, the article is often dropped. The phrase cambiare abitudini acts almost like a single concept: "habit-changing".

Where should sempre più + adverb be placed in a sentence like this?

Adverbs and adverbial phrases that describe how an action is performed generally go after the verb. If there is a direct object (like abitudini), the adverb usually goes right after the object. That is why sempre più rapidamente sits at the very end of the sentence.

How is the adverb rapidamente formed?

Just like adding "-ly" in English, Italian forms these adverbs by taking the feminine singular form of an adjective and adding -mente. The base adjective is rapido (rapid). Its feminine form is rapida, so adding the ending gives us rapidamente (rapidly).