The imperfetto (parlavo, vedevo, dormivo...)

Da bambino giocavo sempre in cortile e la domenica mangiavo da mia nonna.As a child I always played in the yard, and on Sundays I ate at my grandmother's.

The imperfetto is the past tense for things that were in progress, repeated or going on in the background, without saying when they started or ended: what you used to do, what things were like, what was happening. It is formed from one set of endings added to the verb stem, and it is one of the most regular tenses in Italian.

Quick shortcut: stem + -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano, with the vowel of the infinitive before the v: -a- (parlavo), -e- (vedevo), -i- (dormivo).

The forms

Drop -re from the infinitive and add the endings:

The io form ends in -o, the tu form in -i and the lui / lei form in -a: parlavo, parlavi, parlava.

A few irregular verbs

Only a handful of verbs are irregular, and most of them build the imperfetto from an older, longer form of the infinitive:

Avere, dare and stare are regular: avevo, davo, stavo. See The verb "essere" for the present of essere.

1. Habits and repeated actions

Use the imperfetto for what you used to do, or did again and again:

• Da bambino giocavo a calcio ogni giorno. (As a child I played football every day.)
• Di solito mi alzavo alle sette. (I usually got up at seven.)
• Andavamo al mare ogni estate. (We went to the sea every summer.)

Words that often go with it are di solito, sempre, spesso, ogni giorno, ogni estate, da bambino, da giovane.

2. Descriptions, states and age

Use it to say what a person, place or situation was like:

• Era una bella giornata e il cielo era azzurro. (It was a beautiful day and the sky was blue.)
• Mia nonna aveva i capelli bianchi. (My grandmother had white hair.)
• Avevo dieci anni. (I was ten years old.)
• Erano le otto e fuori faceva freddo. (It was eight o'clock and it was cold outside.)

3. Something going on at a past moment

The imperfetto shows an action in progress at a past moment, often with mentre (while):

• Mentre mangiavamo, suonava il telefono. (While we were eating, the phone was ringing.)
• Alle dieci dormivo ancora. (At ten I was still asleep.)
• Che cosa facevi ieri sera alle nove? (What were you doing last night at nine?)

When a one-off event happens in the middle of such a situation, Italian uses the passato prossimo for the event. That contrast is the topic of Passato prossimo vs imperfetto.

Common mistakes

• ❌ Da piccolo, io mangiava molta pasta. → ✅ Da piccolo, io mangiavo molta pasta. (the ending follows the subject)
• ❌ Io bevavo molto caffè. → ✅ Io bevevo molto caffè. (bere uses the stem bev- and -evo)
• ❌ Noi erevamo a casa. → ✅ Noi eravamo a casa. (essere is irregular)
• ❌ Era le otto. → ✅ Erano le otto. (clock times are plural, except era l'una)

Quick check

Put the verb in the imperfetto.

1. Da bambino io ____ (giocare) sempre in cortile.
2. Noi ____ (abitare) a Torino.
3. Quando ____ (essere) piccola, lei ____ (avere) i capelli lunghi.
4. Loro ____ (fare) colazione alle sette ogni giorno.
5. Tu ____ (leggere) molto da ragazzo?
6. Ieri alle otto io ____ (essere) ancora a letto.

Key takeaways

• The imperfetto is formed from the stem plus -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano, with -a-, -e- or -i- before the v: parlavo, vedevo, dormivo.
• Only a few verbs are irregular: essere (ero), fare (facevo), dire (dicevo), bere (bevevo).
• Use it for habits (giocavo ogni giorno), descriptions, states and age (era bello, avevo dieci anni) and actions in progress (mentre mangiavo).
• It does not say when the situation began or ended.
• Typical time words: di solito, sempre, spesso, ogni giorno, da bambino, mentre.