Word
La tariffa di spedizione al chilo è cambiata.
Meaning
The shipping rate per kilo has changed.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of La tariffa di spedizione al chilo è cambiata.
essere
to be
di
of, from
il chilo
the kilo
cambiare
to change
Questions & Answers about La tariffa di spedizione al chilo è cambiata.
Why do we use al chilo here instead of per chilo?
When expressing rates, prices, or measurements (like "per kilo", "a month", or "twice a day"), Italian uses the preposition a. Unlike English, which often drops the article ("per kilo"), Italian requires the definite article here. Since chilo is masculine singular, a + il becomes al.
Why does cambiata end in -a?
Because cambiare (to change) is used intransitively here—the rate changed, rather than someone changing the rate. When used this way, cambiare takes essere as its auxiliary verb. With essere, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject, which is the feminine singular La tariffa.
Why is it di spedizione instead of della spedizione?
When a noun is used to describe the type or category of another noun, like "shipping rate" or "credit card", Italian links them with the simple preposition di without an article. If you used della spedizione, it would sound like you were talking about the rate of one specific shipment, rather than the general category of shipping rates.
Is chilo a shortened form of another word?