Imperfetto

What Is the Imperfetto?

The imperfetto (imperfect tense) is a past tense used to describe actions, states, or situations that were ongoing, repeated, or habitual in the past. Unlike the passato prossimo (which expresses completed, specific events), the imperfetto paints a picture of what things were like or what used to happen. Think of it as the 'past background' tense — it sets the scene rather than moving the story forward.

When to Use the Imperfetto

Use the imperfetto for: 1. Habits and repeated actions in the past (what you used to do): 'Da bambino, guardavo sempre i cartoni animati.' (As a child, I always used to watch cartoons.) 2. Ongoing or background actions (what was happening): 'Leggevo un libro quando hai chiamato.' (I was reading a book when you called.) 3. Descriptions in the past (how things looked, felt, or were): 'Il cielo era azzurro e faceva caldo.' (The sky was blue and it was hot.) 4. States of being, feelings, and mental states: 'Avevo fame e non sapevo cosa fare.' (I was hungry and didn't know what to do.)

How to Form the Imperfetto (Regular Verbs)

To form the imperfetto, take the infinitive, remove the final -re, and add the imperfetto endings. The stem is the infinitive minus -re: - parlare → parla- → parlavo, parlavi, parlava, parlavamo, parlavate, parlavano - leggere → legge- → leggevo, leggevi, leggeva, leggevamo, leggevate, leggevano - dormire → dormi- → dormivo, dormivi, dormiva, dormivamo, dormivate, dormivano Notice that -are verbs use -avo/-avi/-ava/-avamo/-avate/-avano, -ere verbs use -evo/-evi/-eva/-evamo/-evate/-evano, and -ire verbs use -ivo/-ivi/-iva/-ivamo/-ivate/-ivano.

Irregular Imperfetto — Key Patterns

Most verbs are regular in the imperfetto, but a few important verbs are irregular: - essere: completely irregular (ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate, erano) - fare: uses the old Latin stem 'face-' → facevo, facevi, faceva... - bere: uses the old stem 'beve-' → bevevo, bevevi, beveva... - dire: uses the old stem 'dice-' → dicevo, dicevi, diceva... Note that fare, bere, and dire are irregular only in their stem — they still use the regular imperfetto endings (-evo, -evi, -eva, etc.).

• sempre — always (Mangiavo sempre la pasta.
• di solito — usually (Di solito andavamo al mare.
• spesso — often (Spesso leggevo prima di dormire.
• ogni giorno — every day (Ogni giorno studiava due ore.
• ogni estate — every summer (Ogni estate visitavamo i nonni.
• quando ero bambino/a — when I was a child (Quando ero bambino, giocavo in giardino.
• una volta — once / in the old days (Una volta non c'era internet.
• da piccolo/a — as a small child (Da piccola, avevo paura del buio.
• mentre — while (Mentre dormiva, squillò il telefono.
• in quel periodo — at that time (In quel periodo vivevo a Roma.