Breakdown of Per imparare un'arte marziale ci vuole molto tempo.
una
a / an (feminine)
il tempo
the time, the weather
molto
a lot of / much
per
for / in order to / because of
imparare
to learn
l'arte
the art (f)
volerci
to take (time, impersonal)
marziale
martial
Questions & Answers about Per imparare un'arte marziale ci vuole molto tempo.
Why do we use ci vuole here instead of ci vogliono?
The verb volerci (meaning "to take" or "to be needed") agrees with the thing that is needed, which actually acts as the subject of the sentence. Here, the thing needed is molto tempo (a lot of time). Since tempo is singular, we use the singular form ci vuole. If you needed "many years," it would be plural: ci vogliono molti anni.
Could I use bisogna instead of ci vuole to say "it is necessary" here?
Not with this exact phrasing. The impersonal verb bisogna is followed directly by an infinitive verb (for example, bisogna studiare, meaning "one must study"). Because this sentence expresses the need for a noun (molto tempo), volerci is the right choice.
Why does the sentence start with Per imparare rather than just Imparare?
In Italian, using per followed by an infinitive means "in order to." While English often just says "To learn..." to express a goal, Italian uses per to clearly show that learning the martial art is the purpose for which the time is needed.
Why does un'arte have an apostrophe?
The word arte is a feminine noun starting with a vowel. The feminine indefinite article una drops its final a and takes an apostrophe before a vowel to make pronunciation smoother. If it were a masculine noun, you would use un with no apostrophe.
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