The 'used to / was doing' past tense: The imperfect (l'imperfetto) is the past tense for descriptions, background and repeated habits. It's the equivalent of English I used to…, I was …-ing and it was …. You form it from the stem of the infinitive plus one set of endings: parlare → parlavo, leggere → leggevo, dormire → dormivo. Unlike the passato prossimo (a single finished event), the imperfetto paints the scene — what things were generally like.
- l'imperfetto
- the imperfect — the 'used to / was doing' past tense
- l'infinito
- the infinitive — the dictionary form (parlare, leggere, dormire)
- la radice / il tema
- the stem — the infinitive minus -re (parla-, legge-, dormi-)
- la desinenza
- the ending — added to the stem (-vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano)
- un'azione abituale
- a habitual (repeated) action — what the imperfetto typically describes
- la descrizione / lo sfondo
- description / background — the other main job of the imperfetto
Why it carries the marks: Almost every past-tense narrative at SL needs the imperfetto for setting the scene («era una bella giornata», «avevo dieci anni») alongside the passato prossimo for events. Getting the -vo/-vi/-va endings right is core Criterion A (Language) accuracy — and choosing imperfetto vs passato prossimo shows real command of the past.
One set of endings, three verb groups: The imperfetto is beautifully regular. Take the infinitive, drop the final -re, and add the endings -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano. The only difference between the three groups is the theme vowel: -a- for -are verbs (parlavo), -e- for -ere verbs (leggevo), -i- for -ire verbs (dormivo). Notice all three share -vo, -vi, -va… — you learn the endings once.
| Person | parlare (to speak) | leggere (to read) | dormire (to sleep) |
|---|---|---|---|
| io | parlavo | leggevo | dormivo |
| tu | parlavi | leggevi | dormivi |
| lui / lei | parlava | leggeva | dormiva |
| noi | parlavamo | leggevamo | dormivamo |
| voi | parlavate | leggevate | dormivate |
| loro | parlavano | leggevano | dormivano |
Four irregulars worth memorising: Very few verbs are irregular. The one you MUST know is essere → ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate, erano. Three others keep their old Latin stem: fare → facevo, dire → dicevo, bere → bevevo (then the normal endings). Everything else — even «andare», «avere», «venire» — is perfectly regular in the imperfetto (andavo, avevo, venivo).
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Scene, not single event: The imperfetto answers what was it like? and what used to happen? — never what happened once?. Use it for repeated habits, descriptions (people, places, weather), ongoing background action, and age, time and states in the past. If a single, finished event interrupts the scene, that event goes in the passato prossimo: «Leggevo (background) quando è suonato (event) il telefono».
Uses of the imperfetto
- Habits / repeated actions — «Ogni domenica andavamo dai nonni.» (Every Sunday we used to go to our grandparents'.)
- Descriptions & background — «La casa era grande e c'erano tre finestre.» (The house was big and there were three windows.)
- Ongoing action / setting the scene — «Mentre pioveva, io leggevo un libro.» (While it was raining, I was reading a book.)
- Age, time, weather in the past — «Avevo dodici anni ed era una giornata fredda.» (I was twelve and it was a cold day.)
- Physical & mental states — «Ero stanco e non avevo voglia di uscire.» (I was tired and didn't feel like going out.)
'While' loves the imperfetto: Time words like mentre (while), sempre / ogni volta (always / every time), di solito (usually) and da bambino/a (as a child) are strong signals for the imperfetto, because they describe repeated or ongoing situations rather than one finished moment.
A childhood told in the imperfetto: Here is a short memory built one sentence at a time. Every verb is in the imperfetto — note the endings change with the subject and the four irregulars appear (faceva, erano, ero) beside the regulars (abitavo, guardavo, andavo, giocavamo, leggevo). Read it once for meaning, then tap Mostra traduzione for the English or 🔊 to hear it.
IB-style task — l'imperfetto in azione
Un ricordo d'infanzia, frase per frase
- Da bambina abitavo in un piccolo paese vicino al mare.
- Ogni estate mia nonna faceva la pasta a mano e io la guardavo per ore.
- Il pomeriggio andavo in bicicletta con i miei amici e giocavamo in piazza.
- Di sera leggevo un libro mentre fuori pioveva e faceva freddo.
- Erano anni tranquilli: non avevo molti soldi, ma ero felice.
Steal this for your narrative: Notice how few patterns you need: pick high-frequency verbs (abitare, essere, andare, fare, giocare, leggere), add the imperfetto endings, and you can paint a whole background. Swap in your own memories and you have a ready-made opening for a diary entry or the oral.
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The slips to watch for: Three mistakes dominate: using the wrong ending for the subject («tu giocava» instead of tu giocavi), forming essere regularly («essevo» instead of ero), and choosing the imperfetto for a single finished event («Ieri mangiavo una pizza» for a one-off — that needs the passato prossimo ho mangiato). Compare the right version with the typical mistake and the fix becomes clear.
Corretto
- Da bambino giocavi in giardino.
- Ieri sera ero molto stanco.
- Mentre leggevo, è arrivato mio fratello.
Errore comune
- Da bambino giocava in giardino. (con «tu»)
- Ieri sera essevo molto stanco.
- Mentre leggevo, arrivava mio fratello.
Ask: which subject, and habit or one-off?: Before you write a past-tense verb, do two quick checks. 1. Match the ending to the subject (-vo io, -vi tu, -va lui/lei, -vamo noi, -vate voi, -vano loro). 2. Is it a habit/description (→ imperfetto) or a single finished event (→ passato prossimo)? And remember the four irregulars: ero, facevo, dicevo, bevevo.