Breakdown of Il prelievo clinico con l'ago inizia tra un minuto.
un
a / an (masculine)
con
with
iniziare
to start
il minuto
the minute
Questions & Answers about Il prelievo clinico con l'ago inizia tra un minuto.
Why does the sentence use tra un minuto instead of in un minuto?
This highlights our current lesson! Tra (or fra) is used for the time that must pass before an action begins. Because the draw starts after one minute elapses, we use tra. If you used in, it would mean the action takes one entire minute to complete from start to finish, which does not make sense with the verb inizia (starts).
Could I use fra instead of tra in this sentence?
Why is the present tense verb inizia used if the event is happening in the future?
Just like in English (where we can say 'it starts in a minute' instead of 'it will start'), Italian frequently uses the present indicative tense for scheduled or immediate future events. The phrase tra un minuto already establishes that the action is in the future, making the future tense completely optional here.
What kind of 'draw' is a prelievo?