1. 3.2 © and ® 2011 Vista Higher Learning, Inc. 3.2-1 The imperfetto Use the imperfetto to talk about what used to happen or to describe ongoing and habitual actions and conditions in the past. The English equivalent of the imperfetto is often expressed with used to or would. Da piccoli, giocavamo spesso a nascondino. As children, we often played (used to play/would play) hide-and-seek.

2. 3.2 © and ® 2011 Vista Higher Learning, Inc. 3.2-2 The imperfetto To form the imperfetto, remove the final –re from the infinitive and add the endings –vo, –vi, –va, –vamo, –vate, and –vano. tifareprdereapplaudire tifavo tifavi tifava tifavamo tifavate tifvano perdevo perdevi perdeva perdevamo perdevate perdvano applaudivo applaudivi applaudiva applaudivamo applaudivate applaudvano

3. 3.2 © and ® 2011 Vista Higher Learning, Inc. 3.2-3 The imperfetto ATTENZIONE! When the imperfetto conveys ongoing or habitual actions, it is often accompanied by adverbial expressions such as: mentre; sempre; di solito; spesso; ogni giorno/settimana, etc.; tutto/a/i/e + [period of time]; and il/la + [day of week]. In Italian, days of the week are masculine except la domenica. La squadra non si allenava la domenica. The team didnt train on Sundays. Da piccola, passavo tutta lestate dalla nonna. When I was little, I used to spend the whole summer at my grandmothers.

4. 3.2 © and ® 2011 Vista Higher Learning, Inc. 3.2-4 The imperfetto There are few irregularities in the imperfetto. Note, however, the irregular forms of essere and the special stems for bere, dire, and fare. ssere bere (bev-) dire (dic-) fare (fac-) ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate, rano bevevo, bevevi, beveva, bevevamo, bevevate, bevvano dicevo, dicevi, diceva, dicevamo, dicevate, dicvano facevo, facevi, faceva, facevamo, facevate, facvano

5. 3.2 © and ® 2011 Vista Higher Learning, Inc. 3.2-5 The imperfetto ATTENZIONE! Just as it is possible to use Da quanto tempo with the present tense to inquire about actions that began in the past but continue into the present, the imperfetto can be used with this expression to inquire about actions that began in a more distant past and continued in the more recent past. Da quanto tempo parlavi il tedesco quando sei andato in Germania per la prima volta? How long had you been speaking German when you traveled to Germany for the first time? Lo parlavo da tre anni. I had been speaking it for three years.

6. 3.2 © and ® 2011 Vista Higher Learning, Inc. 3.2-6 The imperfetto The imperfetto is also used to describe or set the scene when narrating a past event. Conditions such as the weather, time, age of persons involved, emotions, and circumstances may all be expressed with the imperfetto. Pioveva a catinelle. It was raining buckets. Nel 1970, Carla aveva sei anni. In 1970, Carla was six years old.

7. 3.2 © and ® 2011 Vista Higher Learning, Inc. 3.2-7 The imperfetto The imperfetto can describe states of mind that continued over an unspecified period of time. Mi sentivo triste. I felt sad. Volevi studiare in Italia? Did you want to study in Italy?

8. 3.2 © and ® 2011 Vista Higher Learning, Inc. 3.2-8 The imperfetto Several verbs in the imperfetto can be used together to convey simultaneous ongoing activities in the past. Il padre lavava i piatti mentre i bambini giocavano a carte. The father was washing the dishes while the children were playing cards. Quando la mamma cantava, mia sorella ed io ballavamo sempre. When mom would sing, my sister and I used to dance all the time.

9. 3.2 © and ® 2011 Vista Higher Learning, Inc. 3.2-9 The imperfetto ATTENZIONE! Verbs ending in –urre, –orre, and –arre use stems derived from Latin roots. produrre (produc–) producevo proporre (propon–) proponevo trarre (tra–) traevo