Breakdown of A forza di urlare, la gente del gruppo ha una voce rauca.
una
a / an (feminine)
la gente
the people
avere
to have
di
of, from
il gruppo
the group
la
her/it (direct object)
la voce
the voice
urlare
to yell / to scream
a forza di
by dint of / by constantly
rauco
hoarse
Questions & Answers about A forza di urlare, la gente del gruppo ha una voce rauca.
Why use a forza di followed by an infinitive here?
The phrase a forza di (or a furia di) is used to express a cause based on repetition or insistence. It translates roughly to "by dint of" or "from doing [action] so much." Because the subject doing the yelling is the same as the subject in the main clause (la gente), we use this implicit construction: a forza di + present infinitive (urlare).
Is there any difference between a forza di and a furia di?
Why is the verb singular (ha) when referring to "the people"?
In Italian, la gente (people) is a feminine singular collective noun. Even though it refers to multiple individuals, grammatically it acts like "the crowd" and always takes a third-person singular verb (ha) and singular adjectives. This is a classic trap for English speakers!
Since there are multiple people, could I use the plural and say hanno voci rauche?
It is much more natural in Italian to use the singular una voce rauca here. When a group of people each possesses exactly one of the same body part or attribute (like a voice, a nose, or a life), Italian strictly prefers the singular (this is often called the distributive singular). Saying voci rauche could bizarrely imply that each person has multiple voices.
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