Breakdown of La navetta per l’aeroporto parte ogni venti minuti.
ogni
every
il minuto
the minute
partire
to leave
per
to
venti
twenty
l’aeroporto
the airport
la navetta
the shuttle
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Questions & Answers about La navetta per l’aeroporto parte ogni venti minuti.
What does la navetta mean?
La navetta means the shuttle.
Why is the article la used before navetta?
Because navetta is a feminine singular noun in Italian, so it takes the feminine singular definite article la.
What does per express in per l’aeroporto?
The preposition per here means to and indicates the destination (in this case, the airport).
Why is l’aeroporto written with an apostrophe?
Because aeroporto begins with a vowel, the masculine singular definite article lo contracts to l’ before it. Hence per l’aeroporto instead of per lo aeroporto.
What does ogni mean in ogni venti minuti?
Ogni means every. When talking about frequency with time units, it is followed by a number and the plural form of the unit.
Why is venti minuti in the plural here?
After ogni, the time unit is always in the plural, so you say ogni venti minuti (every twenty minutes), not ogni venti minuto.
What tense is parte, and why is this tense used to talk about a scheduled event?
Parte is the third person singular present indicative of partire (to depart/leave). In Italian (as in English), the present tense is often used to talk about timetables or scheduled future events.
Can you change the word order to say La navetta parte ogni venti minuti per l’aeroporto? Would the meaning change?
Yes, you can say La navetta parte ogni venti minuti per l’aeroporto. The meaning remains essentially the same; you're just placing the destination at the end instead of right after navetta.
Could you use a different verb instead of parte, such as lascia?
Yes. You could say La navetta per l’aeroporto lascia ogni venti minuti. Lasciare (literally “to leave [a place]”) is also common when talking about departures, especially for trains, buses and shuttles.