Scarta una carta e passa.

Yes. Both scarta and passa are informal singular commands in Italian, used when speaking to one person with tu.

• scartare → scarta
• passare → passa

This is very common in instructions for games, recipes, manuals, and casual speech.

So the sentence is giving two commands in sequence:

• Scarta ...
• e passa.

Because scarta here is a command, not a normal present-tense statement.

Compare:

• tu scarti = you discard / you are discarding
• scarta! = discard!

For regular -are verbs, the tu imperative uses the ending -a:

• parlare → parla!
• guardare → guarda!
• scartare → scarta!
• passare → passa!

So scarta is the correct command form.

Una carta means a card here.

• una = a / one
• carta = card, but depending on context it can also mean paper, menu, map, and a few other things.

In a sentence like this, especially with scarta and passa, the context strongly suggests a playing card or some kind of game card.

So carta is one of those Italian words whose exact meaning depends on context.

Because Italian often uses an article where English may or may not.

Here, una carta means a card—one unspecified card.

If you removed una, the sentence would sound incomplete or unnatural in most normal contexts, because scartare usually needs an object:

• Scarta una carta = discard a card
• Scarta la carta = discard the card

The article tells you whether the card is:

• indefinite: una carta = any card / a card
• definite: la carta = the card

They look similar, but they are different words with different roles:

• scarta = a verb form from scartare
• carta = a noun meaning card / paper

They are related in sound more than in grammar. Italian often has words that resemble each other like this.

This sentence can feel a little tricky for learners because of the repeating sound pattern:

• Scarta una carta...

But grammatically it is straightforward:

• scarta = action
• una carta = thing being acted on

Passa comes from passare, which has several meanings depending on context, such as:

• to pass
• to hand over
• to move on
• to skip
• to go by

In this kind of sentence, especially in game instructions, passa often means something like:

• pass
• pass your turn
• move on to the next player
• hand play over

The exact nuance depends on the game or situation.

Yes, the subject is understood rather than stated.

Italian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb form. In commands, this is especially normal.

So:

• Scarta una carta e passa.

implicitly means:

• (Tu) scarta una carta e passa.

In English, this is the same idea as commands like:

• Take a card.
• Wait here.
• Open the door.

You do not usually say you in English commands either, unless you want emphasis.

It is informal singular: it is addressed to one person as tu.

If you wanted the formal singular command (Lei), the forms would be different:

• Scarti una carta e passi.

If you wanted the plural command (you all), you would say:

• Scartate una carta e passate.

So scarta ... passa clearly points to the informal singular command.

Yes. E simply means and, linking the two commands:

• Scarta una carta e passa. = discard a card and pass.

This sounds natural and direct.

You could also say:

• Scarta una carta, poi passa.

That would mean something like Discard a card, then pass, with a slightly clearer sense of sequence.

So:

• e = simple connection
• poi = emphasizes then / afterwards

Both are possible, but e is perfectly normal.

It is a very common verb for discarding in games, card games, and similar contexts.

More generally, scartare can also mean:

• to reject
• to rule out
• to discard
• to throw away

Examples:

• scartare una carta = discard a card
• scartare un’ipotesi = rule out a hypothesis
• scartare un candidato = reject a candidate

So in this sentence it has the specific game meaning, but the verb itself is broader.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

SCAR-ta OO-na CAR-ta eh PAS-sa

A few helpful points:

• sc before a sounds like English sk
  • scarta ≈ SKAR-ta
• carta has a hard c sound, like car
• passa has a double ss, so the s is held a little longer than in English
• stress:
  • SCAR-ta
  • CAR-ta
  • PAS-sa

So the rhythm is quite regular: SCAR-ta una CAR-ta e PAS-sa

Yes, especially in contexts like:

• game rules
• turn-by-turn instructions
• teaching someone how a game works
• concise written instructions

Italian often uses short imperative sentences in these situations.

As a standalone instruction, Scarta una carta e passa. sounds natural and efficient. In a fuller explanation, someone might add more context, but the sentence itself works perfectly well on its own.