Learn Italian: È questo ingrediente che rende la scatola mangiabile. - It is this ingredient that makes the box edible.

mangiabile is formed by taking the stem of the verb mangiare (to eat) and adding the suffix -bile. This suffix works exactly like the English -able or -ible. It turns a verb into an adjective that means capable of being acted upon. Here, it means capable of being eaten.

If mangiabile means edible, what is the difference between it and commestibile?

While both translate to edible, commestibile is the formal term for something that is biologically safe for human consumption. mangiabile is more literal and colloquial, meaning eatable. It is often used to describe food that is barely palatable (for example, saying a bad soup is at least eatable) or, as in this sentence, a novel material that you can physically chew and eat.

Why does the sentence use rende instead of fa for the English word makes?

In Italian, when make means to cause something to become a certain state or adjective (like making a box edible, or making someone happy), you must use the verb rendere (to render). You use fare when you are physically creating an object or when making someone do an action, like far piangere (to make cry).

What is the purpose of the structure È questo ingrediente che...?