Learn Italian: La media complessiva dei risultati è molto alta. - The overall average of the results is very high.

The lesson focuses on 'concordanza a senso' (agreement by meaning), which allows plural verbs after percentages (il 30%) or fractions (una parte). However, la media (the average) acts differently. It represents a single, unified mathematical value rather than a group of items. Therefore, it strictly requires singular grammatical agreement (è, alta) even when followed by the plural dei risultati.

Why is the adjective alta feminine singular instead of plural to match risultati?

The adjective alta modifies the core subject of the sentence, which is la media (feminine singular). Even though dei risultati is plural, it is the average itself that is high, so the adjective must agree with la media.

Could I use totale instead of complessiva here?

You could, but complessiva is much more natural in this context. While totale means 'total', complessiva translates closer to 'overall' or 'comprehensive'. It emphasizes that all the different results have been gathered and considered together to form this single average.

Why is it dei risultati and not just di risultati?