Learn Italian: Ci vogliono due ore per arrivare a Roma. - It takes two hours to arrive in Rome.

Ci vogliono due ore per arrivare a Roma.

It takes two hours to arrive in Rome.

Breakdown of Ci vogliono due ore per arrivare a Roma.

for / in order to / because of

Questions & Answers about Ci vogliono due ore per arrivare a Roma.

Why is it ci vogliono here instead of ci vuole?

With the verb volerci (to take time / to be needed), the time itself is actually the subject of the sentence. Since due ore (two hours) is plural, the verb must be in the plural form: ci vogliono. If it took only one hour, you would use the singular: ci vuole un'ora.

How would this sentence change if I wanted to say 'I take two hours to arrive in Rome'?

You would switch from the impersonal volerci to the personal verb metterci. To say 'I take,' you conjugate the verb for yourself: ci metto due ore per arrivare a Roma.

Why do we use per before arrivare?

In this context, per means 'in order to.' When you state that it takes a certain amount of time to do something, you connect the time and the action using per followed by the infinitive verb (like arrivare).

Why does the sentence use a Roma instead of in Roma?

In Italian, you almost always use the preposition a for cities and towns. You only use in for larger geographic areas like regions, countries, or continents (for example, in Italia).