L’imperfetto: The imperfect, like the present perfect, is the most-used past tense in the Italian language.
Here are some words that indicate the imperfect tense (l’imperfetto):
- Da Giovane / Da Piccolo / Da Bambino (As a young man/woman / As a child)
- Da giovane lavorava tanto (As a young man he worked a lot)
- Da piccolo/ bambinio giocavo tanto. (As a child I played a lot with my father.)
- Prima…..poi…… (First..then)
- L’anno scorso al mare, prima giocavo, poi facevo il bagno.
- (Last year at the beach, first I played, then I took a bath)
- Quando ero piccolo ….(When I was little…)
- Quando facevo le spese, ho visto il mio amico Antonio
- (When I was shopping. I saw my friend Antonio.)
- Mentre giocavo… (While I was playing…)
- Ieri mentre studiavo, mio padre Leggeva il giornale.
- (Yesterday while I was studying, my father was reading the newspaper.)
How do you form the imperfect tense in Italian?
The forms of the imperfect tense are formed by changing the termination of the infinitive in this way:
| Person | -are | -ere | -ire |
| Io Tu Lui / Lei Noi Voi Loro | -avo -avi -ava -avamo -avate -avano | -evo -evi -eva -evamo -evate -evano | -ivo -ivi -iva -ivamo -ivate -ivano |
The conjugation for regular verbs is this:
| Lavorare (To Work) | Mettere (To Put) | Dormire (To Sleep) |
| Lavoravo (I was working) Lavoravi (You were working) Lavorava (He/she was working) Lavoravamo (We were working) Lavoravate (You were working) Lavoravano (They were working) | Mettevo (I was putting) Mettevi (I was putting) Metteva (I was putting) Mettevamo (I was putting) Mettevate (I was putting) Mettevano (I was putting) | Dormivo (I was sleeping) Dormivi (I was sleeping) Dormiva (I was sleeping) Dormivamo (I was sleeping) Dormivate (I was sleeping) Dormivano (I was sleeping) |
- Quando Roberto abitava a Londra lavorava in una biblioteca.
- (When Roberto lived in London he worked in a library)
- In estate non mettevo mai la macchina in garage.
- (In the summer, I never put my car in the garage)
- Sergio dormiva sempre fino a tardi.
- (Sergio always slept late)
What is the irregular imperfect in Italian?
| Essere (To Be) | Fare (To do) | Bere (To Drink) | Dire (To Say) |
| Ero Eri Era Eravamo Eravate Erano | Facevo Facevi Faceva Facevamo Facevate Facevano | Bevevo Bevevi Beveva Bevevamo Bevevate Bevevano | Dicevo Dicevi Diceva Dicevamo Dicevate Dicevano |
| Muovere (To Move) | Compiere (To Complete) | Porre (To Put) | Tradurre (To Translate) |
| Movevo Movevi Moveva Movevamo Movevate Movevano | Compivo Compivi Compiva Compivamo Compivate Compivano | Ponevo Ponevi Poneva Ponevamo Ponevate Ponevano | Traducevo Traducevi Traduceva Traducevamo Traducevate Traducevano |
| Trarre (To draw) | |||
| Traevo Traevi Traeva Traevamo Traevate Traevano |
- Main verbs that are conjugated as (porre): comporre (to compose), disporre (to arrange), esporre (to expose), imporre (to impose), opporre (to oppose), proporre (to propose), riporre (to put away), supporre (to suppose)
- Main verbs that are conjugated as (trarre): attrarre (to attract), contrarre (to contract), detrarre (to deduct), distrarre (to distract), estrarre (to extract), ritrarre (to retract), sottrarre (to subtract)
- Main verbs that are conjugated as (tradurre): produrre (to produce), dedurre (to deduce), indurre (to induce), introdurre (to introduce), ridurre (to reduce), riprodurre (to reproduce), sedurre (to seduce)
- Ieri il tempo era bello.
- (The Weather was fine yesterday)
- A colazione bevevano sempre un succo di frutta.
- (They always drank fruit juice for breakfast)
- Paolo non diceva mai la verità.
- (Paul never told the truth)
- Giulia faceva la doccia tutte le mattine.
- (Giulia took a shower every morning)
- Margaret parlava in inglese e Sandra traduceva in Italiano.
- (Margaret was speaking in English and Sandra was translating into Italian)
- La fabbrica di mio nonno produceva materassi.
- (My grandfather’s factory-made mattresses)
When to use l’imperfetto?
1. The imperfect (imperfetto) has several uses, but in general, it is used to indicate an action or event that took place in the past, and it is not important to define its duration.
The imperfect is used, therefore, for descriptions, especially (but not only) with verbs like essere (to be), sembrare (to seem), avere (to have), and with verbs that express will, desire, intention, and possibility:
- Luisa era molto contenta.
- (Luisa was very happy)
- Era inverno ma non faceva molto freddo.
- (It was winter but it wasn’t very cold)
- Silvia sembrava arrabbiata con me.
- (Silvia seemed angry with me)
- Avevo molta fame e in frigo non c’era nulla!
- (I was very hungry and there was nothing in the fridge!)
- I miei nonni avevano una casa a Firenze.
- (My grandparents had a house in Florence)
- Pensavo di fermarmi a Genova, ma poi ho cambiato idea.
- (I was thinking of stopping in Genoa, but then I changed my mind)
- Volevi qualosca da loro?
- (Did you want something from them?)
- Michael abitava a Dublino.
- (Michael lived in Dublin)
- Lina lavorava in un supermercato.
- (Lina worked in a supermarket)
“Volevo, Ma..” means that there was the will to do something, but it was not done.
- Volevo fare una vacanza, ma non avevo soldi e sono rimasto a casa.
- (I wanted to take a vacation, but I didn’t have any money and I stayed home)
“Ho voluto e…” means that there has been a will to do something, and it has been done.
- Ho voluto fare una vacanza e sono andato al mare per rilassarmi un pò.
- (I wanted to take a vacation and I went to the sea to relax a little)
2. The imperfect is also used to express actions repeated many times in the past or to indicate habits:
- Da piccolo, Luca passava sempre le vacanze in montagna.
- (As a child, Luca always spent his holidays in the mountains)
- Le lezioni cominciavano alle 8.
- (Classes started at 8)
- L’inverno scorso andavo a sciare ogni finesettimana.
- (Last winter I used to go skiing every weekend)
- Di solito si alzava presto.
- (He usually got up early)
- Il figlio di Gianna piangeva sempre.
- (Gianna’s son was always crying)
3. The imperfect is not used, however, when the duration of the action is defined or when it is said how many times a thing has been done.
- Ho abitato in Irlanda per tre anni.
- (I have lived in Ireland for three years)
- Ha fatto molto caldo per due settimane.
- (It has been very hot for two weeks)
- L’inverno scorso sono andato a sciare quindici volte.
- (Last winter I went skiing fifteen times)
- Il bambino è stato molto buono: ha pianto solo per cinque minuti.
- (The baby was very good: he cried for only five minutes)
- Lina ha lavorato in un supermercato da Maggio a Settembre.
- (Lina worked in a supermarket from May to September)
- Ieri è piovuto tutto il giorno.
- (Yesterday it rained all day)
4. When in a sentence reference is made to two or more events that occurred in the past, the imperfect is used to indicate “When” the events took place, that is the time in which they occurred.
- Ho conosciuto Lima quando abitavo in Irlanda.
- (I met Lima when I was living in Ireland)
- Mentre studiavo è arrivata Susanna.
- (Susanna arrived while I was studying)
- Livia e Teresa sono rimaste a casa perchè faceva freddo.
- (Livia and Teresa stayed at home because it was cold)
- Gaia ha telefonato proprio mentre facevo la doccia.
- (Gaia phoned just as I was taking a shower)
- Mentre uscivo dall’ufficio ho incontrato l’avvocato Belli.
- (As I was leaving the office, I met the lawyer Belli)
- Gianni è andato a giocare a tennis anche se aveva la febbre.
- (Gianni went to play tennis even though he had a fever)
5. When two actions take place at the same time and have the same duration, they are both expressed with the imperfect, when the duration is different, the action that lasts longer is the imperfect and the other is the perfect tense.
- Mentre tu studiavi Luciana guardava la televisione.
- (While you were studying Luciana watched television)
- Che lavoro facevi quando abitavi in Svizzera?
- (What job did you do when you lived in Switzerland?)
- L’ingegnere non prendeva telefonate quando era in riunione.
- (The engineer did not take phone calls when he was in a meeting)
- Mentre tu studiavi Emilia ha preparato il pranzo.
- (While you were studying Emilia prepared lunch)
- Ho conosciuto Eric quando abitavo in Svizzera.
- (I met Eric when I lived in Switzerland)
- L’ingegnere ha ricevuto una telefonata quando era in riunione.
- (The engineer got a phone call when he was in a meeting)
6. The Imperfect tense is used to express the weather in the past.
- Ieri, faceva molto freddo.
- (Yesterday, It was very cold)
- Avantieri, c’era il sole e faceva bel tempo.
- (Come on, It was sunny and the weather was nice)
- Ieri sera nevicava a Milano.
- (Last night it was snowing in Milan)
7. Often to indicate the performance of action when another happens, we use the imperfect and also the form (stare + gerund)
- Mentre stavamo studiando, è arrivata Susanna.
- (While we were studying, Susanna arrived)
- Gaia ha telefonato proprio mentre stavo facendo la doccia.
- (Gaia Phoned just as I was taking a shower)
The word mentre (while) in the past tense, is always followed by the imperfect.
- Mentre leggevo il giornale, sono arrivati Pino e Roberto.
- (While I was reading the newspaper, Pino and Robert arrived)
8. imperfetto is used to describe people or situations in the past tense.
- Luciana era una donna intelligente e bella.
- (Luciana was an intelligent and beautiful woman)
- La scuola che frequentavo in Italia era a Roma.
- (The school I attended in Italy was in Rome)
9. The preposition (da) is always used with the present or the imperfect.
- Studio l’Italiano da tre mesi.
- (I have been studying Italian for three months)
- Studiavo l’italiano da tra mesi, quando…
- (I had been studying Italian for months, when..)
This indicate that I am studying, or was still studying, but it does not say the duration of this study.
10. The preposition (per) is always used with the (present and past perfect).
- Ho studiato l’italiano per tre mesi.
- (I Studied Italian for three months)
- Studiai l’italiano per tre mesi.
- (I Studied Italian for three months)
This indicates how long my study lasted, but it does not say when it started and when it ended.