Italian has two indispensable little verbs for talking about how long things take and what's required to do them: volerci and metterci. They look like cousins — both involve ci plus a familiar verb (volere "to want," mettere "to put") — and both translate roughly as English take in time expressions. But they split the work between them in a precise way: volerci states the objective requirement (it takes two hours), while metterci states what a specific person actually takes (I take two hours).
Master this distinction and you'll handle a huge slice of everyday Italian conversation about distance, duration, effort, and difficulty.
Volerci: the objective requirement
Volerci is impersonal in the strict sense — it has no human subject. The grammatical subject is the thing required (time, money, patience, ingredients). The verb agrees in number with that thing.
The structure is:
ci + volere (3sg or 3pl) + thing required
If the required thing is singular, the verb is singular: ci vuole. If plural, ci vogliono.
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| ci vuole tempo | it takes time |
| ci vuole pazienza | it takes patience |
| ci vuole un'ora | it takes an hour |
| ci vogliono due ore | it takes two hours |
| ci vogliono cinque uova | you need five eggs |
| ci vuole molto coraggio | it takes a lot of courage |
Da Roma a Milano in treno ci vogliono circa tre ore.
From Rome to Milan by train it takes about three hours.
Per imparare bene una lingua ci vuole tempo.
To really learn a language takes time.
Per questa ricetta ci vogliono pomodori maturi.
This recipe needs ripe tomatoes.
Ci vuole una vita per finire questo libro.
It takes forever to finish this book.
The English translation almost always uses takes or needs, but notice the framing: it's never I take or we need — it's an impersonal statement about what the world requires.
Volerci in compound tenses
Volerci takes essere in compound tenses (because volere in this construction patterns as a change-of-state / impersonal verb), and the past participle agrees with the required thing.
Ci sono voluti tre giorni per riparare il motore.
It took three days to repair the engine.
C'è voluta molta pazienza.
It took a lot of patience.
Ci sono volute due settimane per completare il progetto.
It took two weeks to complete the project.
The agreement is fully visible: volute (feminine plural) with settimane, voluti (masculine plural) with giorni, voluta (feminine singular) with pazienza.
Metterci: how long someone takes
Metterci is structurally different and crucially personal. Here the subject is the person doing the action, and the ci is fixed (it's part of the verb). The verb conjugates normally in all six persons.
The structure is:
personal subject + ci + mettere (any person) + amount of time
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| ci metto due ore | I take two hours |
| ci metti molto? | do you take long? |
| ci mette un'ora | he/she takes an hour |
| ci mettiamo poco | we take little time |
| ci mettete troppo | you (pl.) take too long |
| ci mettono dieci minuti | they take ten minutes |
Quanto ci metti per arrivare in ufficio?
How long does it take you to get to the office?
Ci metto solo cinque minuti, sto arrivando.
It only takes me five minutes, I'm on my way.
Mio fratello ci mette sempre un'ora a vestirsi.
My brother always takes an hour to get dressed.
A piedi ci mettiamo venti minuti.
On foot we take twenty minutes.
The infinitive of the action (when present) is introduced by a or per: ci metto un'ora a finire / per finire (it takes me an hour to finish).
Metterci in compound tenses
Metterci takes avere in compound tenses, like the regular verb mettere. The participle does not agree with the time expression.
Ci ho messo un'ora per arrivare.
It took me an hour to get there.
Quanto ci hai messo a fare i compiti?
How long did it take you to do your homework?
Ci abbiamo messo tutto il pomeriggio a montare il mobile.
It took us the whole afternoon to assemble the furniture.
The key contrast
The cleanest way to feel the difference: volerci describes a fact about the world; metterci describes a fact about a specific person. The same trip is described by both, depending on focus:
Da Bologna a Firenze ci vuole un'ora in treno.
From Bologna to Florence it takes an hour by train. (objective fact about the journey)
Da Bologna a Firenze ci metto un'ora in treno.
From Bologna to Florence I take an hour by train. (my personal time)
The first is a statement about the route; the second is a statement about me. Both are correct, both are common — but they're not interchangeable, because they're answering subtly different questions.
When it's not about time
Both verbs extend beyond time expressions, with the same logic.
Volerci with non-time things means "to be required" generally:
Per fare il pane ci vogliono farina, acqua, lievito e sale.
To make bread you need flour, water, yeast, and salt.
Ci vuole un buon coltello per tagliare il pane.
A good knife is needed for cutting bread.
Ci vuole fortuna in questa vita.
One needs luck in this life.
Metterci can extend metaphorically to effort, attention, or feeling that the subject puts into something:
Ci ha messo tutto il suo cuore in questo lavoro.
She put her whole heart into this work.
Ci metti troppa enfasi quando parli.
You put too much emphasis when you speak.
This metaphorical use is how metterci stays connected to its base verb mettere ("to put"). You're putting time, effort, attention — that's what's being measured.
Volerci versus metterci: the diagnostic table
| Question | Volerci | Metterci |
|---|---|---|
| Subject of the verb | the time/thing required | the person doing the action |
| Conjugation | 3sg or 3pl only | any of six persons |
| Auxiliary in compound tenses | essere | avere |
| Participle agreement | with the required thing | none (regular avere) |
| Translation hint | "it takes" / "is required" | "X takes" (X = person) |
| Focus | objective requirement | personal experience |
Common mistakes
❌ Ci metto due ore (intending 'it takes two hours' as an objective fact).
Incorrect for the objective reading — 'ci metto' means specifically 'I take.' For the objective fact, use ci vogliono.
✅ Ci vogliono due ore.
Correct for the objective fact — the trip itself takes two hours.
❌ Ci vuole due ore.
Incorrect — the verb must agree in number with the required thing. With 'due ore' (plural) it must be ci vogliono.
✅ Ci vogliono due ore.
Correct — plural verb with plural required thing.
❌ Ho messo un'ora per arrivare.
Incomplete — without the obligatory ci, 'ho messo' loses the time-taken meaning. The construction requires ci.
✅ Ci ho messo un'ora per arrivare.
Correct — ci is part of the verb in this idiom.
❌ Ci ha voluto tre giorni.
Incorrect agreement — 'tre giorni' is masculine plural, so the participle must be 'voluti.'
✅ Ci sono voluti tre giorni.
Correct — plural auxiliary, plural masculine participle, agreeing with 'tre giorni.'
❌ Quanto tempo prende?
Calque from English — Italian doesn't use 'prendere' for the time-taken meaning. Use volerci or metterci.
✅ Quanto ci vuole? / Quanto ci metti?
Correct — depending on whether you mean the objective trip time or someone's personal time.
Key takeaways
Volerci and metterci divide the labor of "taking time" between an objective and a personal frame:
Volerci is impersonal: the subject is the time or quantity required. Verb in 3sg (ci vuole) or 3pl (ci vogliono) agreeing with that subject. Compound auxiliary essere, participle agrees.
Metterci is personal: the subject is the person doing the action. Verb conjugates in all six persons. Compound auxiliary avere, no participle agreement.
Don't translate from English "take": pick the construction by asking who or what the time is being attributed to. Objective fact about the journey/task → volerci. A specific person's experience → metterci.
For the broader system of impersonal constructions, see bisogna, si impersonale, and the consolidated complete impersonal verbs reference.
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- Bisogna: Impersonal NecessityA2 — How Italians say 'it's necessary' without specifying who has to do it — the indispensable bisogna, its conjugation in other tenses, and how it differs from dovere, occorre, and conviene.
- Si Impersonale: Impersonal SiB1 — How Italian uses si + 3rd person singular to talk about generic 'one,' 'you,' or 'people' — the grammar of proverbs, signs, and casual generalizations. With the strange ci si trick when reflexives are involved.
- Impersonal Verbs: Complete ReferenceB1 — A consolidated map of every Italian impersonal construction — si impersonale, si passivante, ci si, weather verbs, bisogna and friends, volerci and metterci — with a decision tree for choosing among them.