Learn Italian: La natalità diminuisce, il che è molto preoccupante. - The birth rate decreases, which is very worrying.

La natalità diminuisce, il che è molto preoccupante.

The birth rate decreases, which is very worrying.

Breakdown of La natalità diminuisce, il che è molto preoccupante.

which (referring to a whole clause)

Questions & Answers about La natalità diminuisce, il che è molto preoccupante.

Why do we use il che here instead of just che?

In Italian, when "which" refers back to an entire preceding statement (the fact that the birth rate is decreasing) rather than a specific noun, you use il che. If you just used che, it would normally need to refer to a specific noun right before it.

Could I use cosa che instead of il che in this sentence?

Yes! La cosa che (often shortened to just cosa che) is very common in spoken Italian and means the exact same thing here: "a thing which." You can safely say ..., cosa che è molto preoccupante.

Why is there an -isc- in diminuisce?

The verb diminuire (to decrease) belongs to the group of -ire verbs that insert -isc- between the stem and the ending in the present tense (like capire or finire). Since la natalità is a singular "it" subject, we use the third-person singular form diminuisce.

Does preoccupante agree with la natalità?

No, it actually agrees with il che, which acts as a masculine singular subject. However, preoccupante (worrying) is an adjective that ends in -e, meaning its singular form is the exact same for both masculine and feminine anyway!