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To talk about how much time an action took in the past, use the *passato prossimo* of either *volerci* or *metterci*. The one you choose changes the grammar completely!

### *Volerci*: The time is the subject

When you use *volerci* (it takes), the **amount of time** is the subject of the sentence. It uses the auxiliary verb *essere*, and the past participle (*voluto*) must agree with the time in gender and number.

- For a singular amount of time, use **c'è voluto** (masculine) or **c'è voluta** (feminine):

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- For plural amounts of time, use **ci sono voluti** (masculine) or **ci sono volute** (feminine):

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### *Metterci*: The person is the subject

When using *metterci* (to spend/take time), the subject is the **person** who spent the time. It uses the auxiliary verb *avere*. 

Because it uses *avere*, the past participle **messo** is invariable—it always ends in **-o**, regardless of who the subject is or how much time passed.

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### Driving school vocabulary

When talking about learning to drive, note that verbs like *imparare* (to learn) and *insegnare* (to teach) are linked to the following infinitive with the preposition **a**:

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And be careful! If you take too long, the examiner (*l'esaminatore*) might fail you (*bocciare*):

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Past tense of volerci and metterci (ci sono volute, ci ho messo)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
quiz	il quiz
theoretical	teorico
It took three months to pass the theoretical quizzes.	Ci sono voluti tre mesi per superare i quiz teorici.
driving school	l'autoscuola
I took two months to finish the driving school.	Ci ho messo due mesi per finire l'autoscuola.
instructor	l'istruttore
practical	pratico
My instructor took an hour to explain the practical exam.	Il mio istruttore ci ha messo un'ora per spiegare l'esame pratico.
examiner	l'esaminatore
to fail (someone / a test)	bocciare
The examiner failed me because I took too much time.	L'esaminatore mi ha bocciato perché ci ho messo troppo tempo.
(linking a verb to a following infinitive)	a
to brake	frenare
to accelerate	accelerare
It took a lot of time to learn to brake and accelerate.	C'è voluto molto tempo per imparare a frenare e ad accelerare.
The instructor taught me to brake before accelerating.	L'istruttore mi ha insegnato a frenare prima di accelerare.
clutch	la frizione
It took five practical lessons at the driving school to understand the clutch.	Ci sono volute cinque lezioni pratiche all'autoscuola per capire la frizione.
We took a week to repair the car's clutch.	Ci abbiamo messo una settimana per riparare la frizione della macchina.
If you do not use the clutch, the examiner fails you.	Se non usi la frizione, l'esaminatore ti boccia.
How much time did it take to prepare for the theoretical exam?	Quanto tempo c'è voluto per preparare l'esame teorico?
I took ten minutes to pass the first quiz.	Ci ho messo dieci minuti per superare il primo quiz.
He was in a big hurry, accelerated too much, and they failed him.	Aveva molta fretta, ha accelerato troppo e lo hanno bocciato.
Did you take the practical exam at the driving school today?	Hai fatto l'esame pratico all'autoscuola oggi?
It took two weeks to find a new instructor.	Ci sono volute due settimane per trovare un nuovo istruttore.

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