Imperfect Tense

Level 2

The imperfetto is the 'video' of the past. It describes what was happening, what used to happen, or how things looked, without focusing on a specific start or end point.

How It Works

The imperfetto is one of the most common tenses in Italian. It is highly regular and essential for storytelling.

1. Conjugation Pattern
To form the imperfetto, take the infinitive, remove the -re, and add the following endings:

-vo (io)
-vi (tu)
-va (lui/lei)
-vamo (noi)
-vate (voi)
-vano (loro)

The thematic vowel (a for -are, e for -ere, i for -ire) is kept: parlavo, leggevo, dormivo. Note that -isc- verbs drop the suffix in this tense (e.g., capivo, not capiscivo).

2. When to Use It

Habits: Things you 'used to' do. (Da piccolo giocavo a calcio.)
Ongoing Actions: Actions in progress when something else happened (Mentre mangiavo, è arrivato Marco) or two actions happening simultaneously (Mentre io studiavo, lui dormiva).
Descriptions: Weather, time, age, and physical or emotional states. (Faceva bel tempo; avevo fame.)
Politeness: Softening a request. (Volevo un caffè.)
Informal Hypotheses: In spoken Italian, it often replaces the conditional in 'if' clauses. (Se lo sapevo, venivo.)

3. Irregular Verbs
Most irregulars follow their Latin roots: fare becomes facevo, dire becomes dicevo, and bere becomes bevevo. The verb essere is the most irregular (ero, eri, era...).

Examples (5)

Da bambino andavo sempre al parco con mio nonno.
As a child, I always used to go to the park with my grandfather.
Word by Word: From child I went always to the park with my grandfather.
This shows a habitual action in the past (something that happened repeatedly).
Mentre studiavo, la mia amica mi ha chiamato.
While I was studying, my friend called me.
Word by Word: While I was studying, the my friend me has called.
Here, the imperfetto (studiavo) describes an ongoing background action interrupted by a specific event.
Era una giornata bellissima e faceva molto caldo.
It was a beautiful day and it was very hot.
Word by Word: It was a day beautiful and it made much heat.
The imperfetto is used here to describe the weather and set the scene.
Scusi, volevo chiederle un'informazione.
Excuse me, I wanted to ask you for some information.
Word by Word: Excuse, I wanted to ask you an information.
This is the 'imperfetto di cortesia', used to make a request sound more polite than using the present tense.
Alle otto facevo colazione.
At eight o'clock I was having breakfast.
Word by Word: At the eight I made breakfast.
This describes an action that was already in progress at a specific point in time.

Common Mistakes

Misplacing the stress in the 'loro' (they) form.
Loro parlavàno.
Loro parlàvano.
In the 'loro' form of the imperfetto, the stress always falls on the root/thematic vowel, not the ending.
Using imperfetto for a completed action just because it lasted a long time.
Vivevo in Italia per dieci anni.
Ho vissuto in Italia per dieci anni.
If the action is viewed as a completed block of time with a defined end, use the passato prossimo, regardless of how long it lasted.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Imperfect TenseLevel 2

Learn This First

To learn the imperfetto, you need to be comfortable with subject pronouns and the basic conjugation stems of Italian verbs. It is also helpful to have already encountered the passato prossimo, as the imperfetto is primarily used in contrast to it to describe background information, habits, or ongoing states in the past.

avere + Past ParticiplePresent Perfect with 'Avere'
Learners need to understand the basic concept of past tense actions before distinguishing between completed actions (passato prossimo) and ongoing/habitual ones (imperfetto).
Level 2

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Sources

Practice Imperfect Tense in Bubblegum

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