It took me....

Ciao, Mi diga per favore come se dice in Italiano: IT TOOK ME.. Like to say "it took me 2 hours to go to sleep". Grazie, Edith

Ciao Edith! Welcome back to the Rocket Italian Community! In Italian the expression "It took me" can be translated in different ways. In the example you wrote, it will be "io c'ho messo" (c'ho = ci ho) or "mi ci sono volute" . So the sentences will be: "io c'ho messo due ore ad addormentarmi" or "mi ci sono volute 2 ore ad addormentarmi". But pay attention because in the second example, the past participle "volute" changes in relation to the gender of the subject (ore = hours-fem. plural) Another example: It took me 2 days to arrive Mi ci sono voluti 2 giorni per arrivare (giorni= days-masc. plural) All the best for your Italian learning. The Rocket Italian Team

Grazie adminit, Why one is "io c'cho messo, and the other 'mi ci sono volute". Also what is volute, and messo , I can't find these words my dictionary. Thank you

Ciao Edith. These two expressions don't make much sense when literally translated in English. In fact "io ci ho messo" would be "I took myself". It comes from the verb "mettere" so you'll probably find this expression in the vocabulary under this verb. "Mi ci sono volute" instead comes from "volere". "Volerci" in fact means to be needed or to take (speaking about time). I'm sure you'll find this expression too under the verb "volere". All the best for your Italian learning! Ciao! The Rocket Italian Team

Grazie mille, ho capito. I do understand the concept of "I took myself" because it is used in Spanish also, and Spanish is my first language. Now if I could bother you just one more time with this? Given your information, if I wanted to say "It took me 2 hours to write this message", I could say "mi c'ho usato due ore ad scrivire questo messagio"? Thanks

Hi Edith. Your sentence "mi c'ho usato due ore ad scrivire questo messagio"? is almost correct. If you want to say "It took me 2 hours to write this message", the sentence will be mi ci sono volute due ore per scrivere questo messaggio (volute because ore is a fem. pl. noun ). You could also use another alternative verb which is "impiegare" (corresponding in English of "to use" speaking about time). So the sentence will be: "Io ho impiegato due ore per scrivere il messaggio". Hope to have been helpful! Buon fine settimana. Ciao

Grazie, Edith

ciao, Ho capito la parola "mi ci sono volute due ore" it took me 2 hours, but how do you then say. It took me 1 hour ? Mi c'e' voluta un'ora ? :? grazie

Ciao Dilley, yes, it's correct ! If you want to say "it took me an hour" you will say : "mi ci è voluta un’ora". Another very useful way to express "it took me",it's using the verb "impiegare". Example: Il treno impiega un'ora - The train takes 1 hour Ho impiegato due ore per arrivare al lavoro - It took me two hours to get to work I hope this helps!