Breakdown of L'altitudine diminuisce, ossia l'aereo scende.
diminuire
to decrease
scendere
to get off, to go down
l'aereo
the airplane (m)
ossia
that is to say / or rather
l'altitudine
the altitude (f)
Questions & Answers about L'altitudine diminuisce, ossia l'aereo scende.
Why is ossia used here instead of cioè?
Why is there an -isc- in diminuisce?
The verb diminuire (to decrease) belongs to the group of -ire verbs that add -isc- to the stem in all singular forms and the "they" form of the present tense. It follows the exact same pattern as capire becoming capisce.
Could I use scende for the altitude instead of diminuisce?
While in English an altitude might "go down", Italian prefers diminuire (to decrease) or abbassarsi (to lower) for measurements and values like altitude, temperature, or prices. scendere is usually reserved for the physical movement of something actually traveling downwards, like the airplane here (l'aereo scende).
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