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Ci ho messo dieci minuti per superare il primo quiz.

Ci ho messo dieci minuti per superare il primo quiz.
I took ten minutes to pass the first quiz.
From Lesson 239:Past tense of volerci and metterci (ci sono volute, ci ho messo)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Ci ho messo dieci minuti per superare il primo quiz.

Why do we use ci ho messo instead of ci sono voluti?
Both verbs talk about time, but they have different focuses. Metterci is used when focusing on a specific person or subject who is spending the time (in this case, I took ten minutes). Volerci is impersonal and talks about the time required in general. If you wanted to say 'it took ten minutes' without mentioning yourself, you would use volerci: ci sono voluti dieci minuti.
If it took me two hours instead of ten minutes, would messo change to match the feminine due ore?
No, it stays messo. Because metterci takes the auxiliary verb avere (here, ho), the past participle does not change to agree with the time expression. If you used volerci, which takes the auxiliary verb essere, the participle would have to agree: ci sono volute due ore.
Why is there a per before superare?
The preposition per followed by an infinitive verb translates to "in order to" or just "to" when expressing a goal or purpose. Here, you took ten minutes in order to pass the quiz.
Could I use passare instead of superare to mean "to pass"?
While you might hear passare un esame in casual, informal Italian, superare is the most natural and standard verb to use when talking about successfully completing a test, quiz, or exam. Passare is more commonly used for passing time or handing an object to someone.
Is the word quiz masculine or feminine, and how do you make it plural?
Foreign loanwords that end in a consonant, like quiz, are almost always masculine in Italian. They are also invariable, meaning the ending of the word itself doesn't change in the plural. You only change the article and adjectives, so il primo quiz becomes i primi quiz.

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