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Quando la nebbia copre la pista, la partenza viene spesso cancellata.

Quando la nebbia copre la pista, la partenza viene spesso cancellata.
When fog covers the runway, the departure is often cancelled.
FromLesson 31inHardcore Italian

Questions & Answers about Quando la nebbia copre la pista, la partenza viene spesso cancellata.

Why is the present indicative copre used in “Quando la nebbia copre la pista,” even though the fog covering the runway might happen in the future?
In Italian, temporal clauses introduced by quando often use the present indicative to express general truths or habitual actions. Here it means “whenever the fog covers the runway,” not a single future event.
What is the function of viene in “la partenza viene spesso cancellata”?
Viene is part of the periphrastic passive (passivo perifrastico). It corresponds to “is” or “gets” in English passive voice. So viene cancellata means “is cancelled.”
Why not use è cancellata instead of viene cancellata?

Both are passive, but:

  • viene cancellata (periphrastic passive) emphasizes the action or process (“gets cancelled”).
  • è cancellata (stative passive) describes a resulting state (“is cancelled” as a condition).
    In contexts of events being called off, Italians prefer viene cancellata to highlight the action.
How does the past participle cancellata agree in the passive construction?
In Italian passives with viene, the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject. Here la partenza is feminine singular, so we use cancellata (feminine singular).
Why is the adverb spesso placed before cancellata? Could it go elsewhere?
Adverbs of frequency like spesso often appear between the auxiliary (viene) and the past participle (cancellata): viene spesso cancellata. You could also say spesso viene cancellata, but the chosen order is very common and keeps focus on the main verb.
What does pista mean in this context?
Pista can mean “track,” “trail,” or “runway.” Here, given the context of fog and departures, it refers to an airport runway.
Why is there a definite article in la partenza rather than just partenza?
Italian often uses the definite article with abstract or general nouns: la partenza, l’arrivo, il volo. It specifies “the departure” of the flight in this situation.
Could the sentence be rephrased as “La partenza viene spesso cancellata quando la nebbia copre la pista”? Would that change the meaning?
Yes, that reordering is perfectly grammatical. Italian word order is flexible. Placing the subordinate clause at the end shifts the emphasis slightly but keeps the same overall meaning.
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