Descrivere situazioni e persone del passato
Describing situations and people as they were in the past
Listen and repeat.
We use the imperfetto tense to describe situations and people as they used to be in the past:
- Quando ero piccolo, avevo i capelli ricci: When I was little, I had curly hair
or, when telling a story, to set the scene for the events that happened in that context (usually expressed in the passato prossimo tense):
- Era estate e faceva caldo, il giorno che l’ho incontrato: It was summer and it was hot, the day I met him
Abitudini del passato
Habits in the past
Listen and repeat.
The imperfetto tense can be used to talk about habits that we used to have in the past and that we don’t have anymore in the moment we’re speaking:
- Durante le vacanze, andavo al mare tutti i giorni: On vacation I used to go to the beach every day
- Quando ero piccolo, mia nonna mi comprava un gelato ogni settimana: When I was little, my grandmother used to buy me an ice cream every week
Azioni contemporanee nel passato
Actions taking place at the same time in the past
Listen and repeat.
We use the imperfetto tense to talk about two actions taking place at the same time in the past:
- Mentre studiavo, la mamma cucinava: While I studied, my mom cooked
- Io cantavo e lei suonava il piano: I sang and she played the piano
Eventi interrotti nel passato
Interrupted events in the past
Listen and repeat.
When we want to talk about an event that lasted for a while until it was interrupted by another event, we use the imperfetto tense for the first event and the passato prossimo tense for the second one:
- Camminavo per strada quando ha cominciato a piovere: I was walking down the street, when it started to rain
- Preparavo il pranzo quando mi hai chiamato: I was making lunch when you called me
Richieste cortesi
Polite requests
Listen and repeat.
In colloquial speech, we can use the imperfetto tense for polite requests (instead of the conditional mood that we’ll learn later on in this course):
- Buongiorno, volevo una bottiglia d’acqua, per favore: Good morning, I’d like a bottle of water, please
- Volevo parlare con il Signor Rossi, per favore: I would like to speak with Mr. Rossi, please
Desideri non realizzati
Unfulfilled desires
Listen and repeat.
In colloquial speech we can also use the imperfetto tense to talk about desires that couldn’t be fulfilled or expected events that couldn’t take place. We’ll see more examples when we talk about regrets:
- Volevo offrirti un tè, ma è finito: I wanted to offer you a tea, but I ran out of it
- Peccato ! Mi piaceva l’idea di uscire oggi, ma piove: Such a shame ! I liked the idea of going out today, but it’s raining
Coniugazione dei verbi regolari all’imperfetto
Conjugation of regular verbs in the imperfect tense
Listen and repeat.
Let’s review the imperfetto tense endings for each one of the three main groups of regular verbs:
| AMARE | VEDERE | DORMIRE |
| (to love) | (to see) | (to sleep) |
| io amavo | io vedevo | io dormivo |
| tu amavi | tu vedevi | tu dormivi |
| Lei amava | Lei vedeva | Lei dormiva |
| lui amava | lui vedeva | lui dormiva |
| lei amava | lei vedeva | lei dormiva |
| noi amavamo | noi vedevamo | noi dormivamo |
| voi amavate | voi vedevate | voi dormivate |
| loro amavano | loro vedevano | loro dormivano |
Completa le frasi scrivendo i verbi dati all’imperfetto.
Complete these sentences writing the given verbs in the imperfect tense.
Completa le frasi usando il presente o l’imperfetto.
Fai attenzione agli avverbi di tempo e agli altri tempi nella frase.
Complete the sentences using either the present or the imperfetto tense.
Pay attention to the adverbs of time and the other tenses in the sentence.
If you have any questions or doubts, leave a comment below.