Breakdown of Ci vuole una vita intera per perfezionare quest'arte.
una
a / an (feminine)
questo
this (masculine)
la vita
the life
per
for / in order to / because of
l'arte
the art (f)
volerci
to take (time, impersonal)
intero
whole, entire
perfezionare
to perfect
Questions & Answers about Ci vuole una vita intera per perfezionare quest'arte.
Why do we use ci vuole here instead of ci metto or ci vogliono?
Volerci expresses a general, objective requirement (like "it takes" or "is needed"), whereas metterci is used for how much time a specific person spends doing something. We use the singular ci vuole because the thing being required, una vita intera (an entire lifetime), is singular. If the subject were plural, like two lifetimes, we would use ci vogliono.
Could I say tutta una vita instead of una vita intera?
Why is the preposition per needed before the verb perfezionare?
In English, we say "it takes a lifetime to perfect", using just the infinitive. In Italian, when an infinitive verb shows the purpose or goal of the main clause, you must use per to mean "in order to". Therefore, per perfezionare translates literally as "in order to perfect".
Why does questa become quest' in quest'arte?
The demonstrative adjectives questo (masculine) and questa (feminine) generally drop their final vowel and take an apostrophe when followed immediately by a noun starting with a vowel. Since the feminine noun arte starts with an 'a', questa arte elides into quest'arte for smoother pronunciation.
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