Mettere

Maxie

Maxie

Lesson sending a package home. 

Lo Metta Sulla bilancia. Put it on the scale

Then mettere to put

Mettere to take

Is this part of the same verb, meaning take or put?

 

caterina-rocket-italian-tutor

caterina-rocket-italian-tutor

Hi Sebongela, 

the verb "mettere" has several meanings, as you correctly noticed.

The most common one is "to put", as in "mettilo là" (put it there).

At the same time, it could also mean "to wear" as in "mettiti un vestito rosa" (put on a pink dress).

Another meaning could be "to require X time" as in "the bus takes 10 mins", which would be "l'autobus ci mette 10 minuti" (or "l'autobus impiega 10 minuti").  However, in this case, the verb would be "metterci" rather than "mettere".

Hope this helps :) 
LuzM18

LuzM18

I am just finishing this lesson and had the same question.  What would be the word then be for “take” as in It would take about 10 minutes"?  Or is mettere the one to use all the time when talking Bout how long something takes.  I biscotti ci metterà venti minuti in forno?

 

Grazie!

 

caterina-rocket-italian-tutor

caterina-rocket-italian-tutor

Ciao LuzM18, 

Thank you for your question!

In this case, you could definitely use the verb "mettere". However, please note that, if you use "mettere", this should always agree with the subject: 

e.g. I biscotti ci metteranno venti minuti in forno ---> "metteranno" agrees with "biscotti", which is 3rd person - plural.
e.g. Io ci metterò circa due ore ad arrivare ---> "metterò" agrees with "io", which is 1st person - singular

However, there are also alternative ways to translate a sentence like this (you don't have to use "mettere" all the time). You could also say "I biscotti impiegheranno venti minuti" (from the verb "impiegare"). The meaning will not change.

Hope this helps :) 
 

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