Learn Italian: Il tragitto normale è breve.

Il tragitto normale è breve.

The normal route is short.

Breakdown of Il tragitto normale è breve.

Questions & Answers about Il tragitto normale è breve.

Why use tragitto instead of viaggio for 'route' or 'journey'?

Viaggio usually means a longer 'trip' or 'travel' (like going on vacation). Tragitto specifically refers to the physical 'route', 'path', or 'short journey' between two points, like a daily commute or a walk to the store.

Could I put the adjective first and say Il normale tragitto?

It is much more natural to put normale after the noun here. In Italian, adjectives that define exactly what type or category of thing we are talking about (the 'normal' route as opposed to an 'alternate' one) almost always go after the noun.

Tragitto is a masculine word, so why doesn't breve end in -o?

Breve (short) is an adjective that ends in -e in its default dictionary form. Adjectives ending in -e are used for both masculine and feminine singular nouns. They only change their ending to -i for plurals (like i tragitti brevi).

Since this lesson is about time duration, how would I add 'it takes a short time' to this sentence?

You would use the impersonal verb volerci. To say 'it takes a short time', you can say ci vuole poco tempo. If you want to say that you personally take a short time to travel the route, you would use metterci: ci metto poco tempo.