Al tornello della metropolitana ho cercato il biglietto nella borsa e ho fatto passare prima Marta.

Al is the contraction of a + il, so literally it is at the turnstile.

Italian often uses a preposition + article with places where English might just say at or by. So:

• al tornello = at the turnstile
• alla stazione = at the station
• al bar = at the café/bar

Here al tornello della metropolitana refers to the turnstile area in the metro, not to being physically inside the turnstile.

Della is the contraction of di + la.

So:

• il tornello della metropolitana = the turnstile of the metro/subway

Italian uses this structure very naturally to link one noun to another. English often uses noun + noun combinations, but Italian usually prefers di:

• il biglietto del treno = the train ticket
• la porta della casa = the door of the house
• il tornello della metropolitana = the metro turnstile

You could also hear della metro in everyday speech, since metro is a common shorter form of metropolitana.

Ho cercato is the passato prossimo, which is commonly used in Italian for a completed action in the past.

Here the speaker is telling a sequence of events:

1. I looked for the ticket
2. I let Marta go first

That kind of completed, step-by-step narration is a very typical use of passato prossimo.

If you said cercavo, that would sound more like background or an ongoing action:

• cercavo il biglietto = I was looking for the ticket / I used to look for the ticket

So ho cercato fits better because it presents the action as a specific finished event.

Because Italian cercare is a direct transitive verb: it takes a direct object with no preposition.

So:

• cercare qualcosa = to look for something
• ho cercato il biglietto = I looked for the ticket

English uses look for, but Italian does not say cercare per. That is a very common mistake for English speakers.

Compare:

• cerco le chiavi = I’m looking for the keys
• cercava lavoro = he/she was looking for work

Italian uses articles more often than English does, especially with everyday concrete nouns.

So ho cercato il biglietto is the normal way to say I looked for the ticket.

In context, this is probably a specific ticket the speaker already had or was supposed to have. That makes the definite article very natural.

English sometimes drops articles more easily, but Italian usually keeps them:

• ho preso il telefono
• ho trovato le chiavi
• ho cercato il biglietto

Here borsa most naturally means a bag, often a handbag or purse.

It is a general everyday word, but the exact English translation depends on context:

• borsa = bag / handbag / purse
• zaino = backpack
• valigia = suitcase
• sacchetto = small bag, often plastic or paper

So nella borsa means in the bag.

Nella is in + la.

So:

• nella borsa = in the bag

Italian combines many prepositions with definite articles:

• nel = in + il
• nella = in + la
• del = di + il
• alla = a + la
• sul = su + il

Since borsa is feminine singular, in + la becomes nella.

This is the very common fare + infinitive structure, often called the causative.

• fare + infinitive can mean make someone do something, have someone do something, or let someone do something, depending on context.

So:

• ho fatto passare Marta = I had Marta go through / I let Marta go through

In this sentence, the natural meaning is that the speaker let Marta go through the turnstile first.

Some similar examples:

• ho fatto entrare Luca = I let Luca come in
• ho fatto vedere il documento = I had them show the document / I made them show the document
• mi fai passare? = will you let me pass?

Because Marta is the direct object of fare in this causative structure.

The pattern is:

• fare + infinitive + person/object

So:

• ho fatto entrare Paolo
• ho fatto uscire i bambini
• ho fatto passare Marta

You do not need a preposition before the person here.

This is different from some English patterns, and it can feel unusual at first, but it is completely normal Italian.

Here prima means first or before me/before others.

So ho fatto passare prima Marta means the speaker let Marta go through first.

In this sentence, prima modifies the idea of the order of passing, not the noun Marta as an adjective.

Very natural alternatives would be:

• ho fatto passare Marta per prima
• ho fatto passare prima Marta e poi me
• prima ho fatto passare Marta

All of these express the same basic idea, but Marta per prima is often a little more explicit.

Italian word order is flexible, and prima often appears near the element it is emphasizing.

In ho fatto passare prima Marta, the focus is on the order: Marta first.

If you move things around, the sentence still works, but the emphasis changes a bit:

• ho fatto passare prima Marta = I let Marta go first
• ho fatto passare Marta per prima = I let Marta go first
• prima ho fatto passare Marta = first, I let Marta go through

So the original order is natural and emphasizes that Marta was allowed to pass before the speaker.

Because there are two separate verbs in the passato prossimo:

• ho cercato
• ho fatto passare

Italian can sometimes omit repeated elements if the meaning is obvious, but in a sentence like this it is normal and clearer to repeat the auxiliary:

• ho cercato il biglietto nella borsa e ho fatto passare prima Marta

That sounds complete and natural.

You may sometimes hear omissions in very informal speech, but learners should generally repeat the auxiliary when there are two different past participles or verb phrases.

Grammatically, this sentence most directly means:

• I looked for the ticket in the bag

The object of cercare is il biglietto, so the speaker is looking for the ticket, and nella borsa tells you where.

If you wanted to emphasize searching the bag itself, Italian would more naturally use something like:

• ho cercato nella borsa il biglietto
• ho frugato nella borsa per cercare il biglietto

So the original sentence is focused on the ticket as the thing being sought, not on the bag as the thing being searched.