- Imperfetto: Something that was going on, or something that you used to do. The imperfetto expresses a description of something that was going on. Imperfetto is also often used to describe physical, mental, and emotional states, as well as age, weather, and time of day.

( Passato prossimo, on the other hand, is an event that occurred.)

The imperfetto can be translated into English with:

Suonavo il piano.

I used to play the piano.

I would play the piano... (meaning: "I used to play the piano.")

I was playing the piano... (when suddenly something else happened)*

I was playing the piano. (ongoing in the past, with no mention of starting or stopping)

*Nowadays, some Italians use the imperfetto of "stare plus the gerund" for this construction, rather than the imperfetto: "Stavo suonando il piano..."

Here's a comparison with the other past tense we have studied, the passato prossimo.

L'imperfetto: Leggevo un buon libro. - I was reading a good book.

Il passato prossimo: Ho letto un buon libro. - I read a good book. (or) I have read a good book.

L'imperfetto: Cantavamo ogni sera. - We used to sing every evening.

Il passato prossimo: Abbiamo cantato ieri sera. - We sang last night.

L'imperfetto is a one-word conjugation, formed by taking the stem of the verb and adding these endings:

-vo_____-vamo

-vi______-vate

-va_____-vano

If you want to practice saying the imperfetto out loud, make sure you put the stress on the right syllable. Most grammar books have it marked. Here (parlare) is an example of the location of the stress:

parlare (l'imperfetto):

parlavo____parlavamo

parlavi____parlavate

parlava____parlavano

_

leggere:

leggevo_____leggevamo

leggevi_____leggevate

leggeva_____leggevano

_

dormire:

dormivo_____dormivamo

dormivi_____dormivate

dormiva_____dormivano

There are not many irregular verbs in the imperfetto. The two that you will use most often are essere and fare:

essere:

ero_____eravamo

eri_____eravate

era_____erano

fare:

facevo_____facevamo

facevi_____facevate

faceva_____facevano

A. The childhood of Marco.  Read the description of Marco when he was young, and decide if the sentences which follow the section could be true. Correct the false sentences. (There are many ways to “correct” the sentences.)

B. Substitute the subject in the sentences with the element given in parentheses, and change the verb accordingly.

C. Complete the story of Margherita with the imperfetto of essere or avere.


click here for the answers to parts A, B, C.

D. Be ready in class to talk about what you liked to do when you were young.  (If you need to look up some words, WordReference.com is good.  If you know that you’re going to be using a word which is new to the class, be ready to explain it in Italian, or to act it out.