How to Say ‘The train was late.’ in Italian
Il treno era in ritardo.
eel TREH-noh EH-rah een ree-TAR-doh
[eel TREH-noh EH-rah een ree-TAR-doh]
🇮🇹 In Italy: Blaming the train is a widely accepted excuse in Italy. Regional trains are often late, and departure boards show delays as ritardo with the minutes.
Phrase Breakdown
Il treno
eel TREH-noh
The train
Article plus noun. Stress: il TRE-no.
Il treno parte alle otto.
The train leaves at eight.
Words in this phrase
Il
[eel]
the
Masculine singular definite article used before a masculine singular noun.
Nella frase Il tempo personale, Il introduce il concetto di tempo privato.
In the phrase 'Il tempo personale,' 'Il' introduces the concept of private time.
treno
[TREH-noh]
train
A train used for travel between cities or regions.
Il treno parte alle otto.
The train leaves at eight.
era in ritardo.
EH-rah een ree-TAR-doh
was late.
'Era' is the past of 'essere'. 'In ritardo' means late. Link 'era in' smoothly.
Marco era in ritardo.
Marco was late.
Words in this phrase
era
[EH-rah]
was
Imperfect of essere used in c'era to mean there was.
C'era un incidente sulla strada principale.
There was an accident on the main road.
in
[een]
in
Preposition used to indicate being inside or part of a place or organization.
Uso "in" quando parlo del lavoro in un'organizzazione.
I use "in" when I talk about working in an organization.
ritardo
[ree-TAR-doh]
delay / lateness
A noun meaning 'delay' or 'being late.' Common in travel and reservation situations.
Per un ritardo? Possiamo tenere il tavolo ancora un po'.
For a delay? We can keep the table a little longer.
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