"Quanto può vivere una persona senza petrolio?"

Translation: How long can a person live without oil?

[lolaphilologist]

Quanto = how long? Is the element of time implied? I feel like a direct translation in English would be too vague to work, so I'm curious.

[f.formica]

"Quanto" refers to quantity in general, and it can be used to refer to time ("tra quanto passa l'autobus?" - "how long till the next bus?"), length ("quanto è distante?" - "how far is it?"), weight ("quanto pesa?" - "how much does it weigh?"), and so on.

[lolaphilologist]

Grazie!