La telefonata al servizio clienti è durata venti minuti.

the minute

Breakdown of La telefonata al servizio clienti è durata venti minuti.

• venti: twenty
• al: to
• la telefonata: the phone call

Questions & Answers about La telefonata al servizio clienti è durata venti minuti.

Why is the definite article la used with telefonata?

In Italian, every noun carries a gender. The word telefonata is feminine, so it takes the feminine definite article la. Thus, La telefonata means "the phone call."

What does the contraction al represent in al servizio clienti?

Al is a contraction of the preposition a (meaning "to") and the masculine definite article il (meaning "the"). So, al servizio clienti translates literally as "to the customer service."

How is the verb durare conjugated in this sentence, and why is its past participle durata in the feminine form?

The verb durare (to last) is conjugated in the passato prossimo, a compound past tense in Italian. It uses essere as the auxiliary verb, so “è durata” means "it lasted." Because the subject telefonata is feminine singular, the past participle durata agrees in gender and number with it.

Why do we use the passato prossimo form (è durata) to describe the phone call's duration?