Learn Italian: C'è una coda in autostrada, ci vuole più tempo. - There is a queue on the highway, it takes more time.

C'è una coda in autostrada, ci vuole più tempo.

There is a queue on the highway, it takes more time.

Breakdown of C'è una coda in autostrada, ci vuole più tempo.

una

a / an (feminine)

il tempo

the time, the weather

c'è

there is / there are

in / made of (material)

Questions & Answers about C'è una coda in autostrada, ci vuole più tempo.

Why use ci vuole instead of ci mette here?

Volerci is impersonal and means "it takes" as a general fact. Because the sentence means "it takes more time" for anyone on that highway, we use ci vuole. If we wanted to say a specific person takes more time (like "He takes more time"), we would use a form of metterci (like ci mette).

Why is it ci vuole (singular) and not ci vogliono (plural)?

With the verb volerci, the verb agrees with the amount of time or the thing being required. Here, the thing needed is più tempo (more time), which is singular. If the sentence said "it takes more hours" (plural), it would be ci vogliono più ore.

Does coda mean a line of traffic or an animal's tail?

Both! The literal translation of coda is "tail". Italians use it metaphorically to talk about traffic jams or a line of people waiting. If you are standing in line, you are doing la coda (fare la coda).

Why do we say in autostrada instead of sull'autostrada if it means "on the highway"?

Italian often uses the preposition in without an article for certain locations and types of transport where English would use "on" or "at". Just like you go in banca (to the bank) or travel in treno (by train), you travel in autostrada.