Imperfetto for Habits

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Expressing Past Habits with L'Imperfetto

In B1 Italian, when you want to describe ongoing actions, routines, or what life was like in the past (equivalent to 'used to' or 'would' in English), you use the imperfetto (imperfect tense).

How to Form Regular Verbs

Drop the infinitive ending (-are, -ere, -ire) and add the imperfect endings:

  • -are verbs (e.g., parlare): parlavo, parlavi, parlava, parlavavamo, parlavate, parlavano
  • -ere verbs (e.g., vedere): vedevo, vedevi, vedeva, vedevamo, vedevate, vedevano
  • -ire verbs (e.g., dormire): dormivo, dormivi, dormiva, dormivamo, dormivate, dormivano

Key Irregular Verbs

  • Essere (to be): ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate, erano
  • Fare (to do/make): facevo, facevi, faceva, facevamo, facevate, facevano
  • Dire (to say): dicevo, dicevi, diceva, dicevamo, dicevate, dicevano

Examples

Da piccolo, giocavo sempre a calcio. (As a little boy, I always used to play soccer.)

Tutte le domeniche andavamo al mare. (Every Sunday we would go to the seaside.)

Common Mistakes

Don't use the imperfetto for a single, completed action in the past; use the passato prossimo instead. The imperfetto is strictly for background details, frequency, and routines.

Words

da piccolo
as a child
Da piccolo, mangiavo molta frutta.As a child, I used to eat a lot of fruit.
ogni estate
every summer
Ogni estate andavamo in montagna.Every summer we used to go to the mountains.
da giovane
when I was young
Da giovane leggevo molti libri.When I was young I used to read many books.
giocare
to play
Giocavamo sempre nel parco.We always used to play in the park.
abitare
to live
Abitavo a Roma da bambino.I used to live in Rome as a child.
essere
to be
Il tempo era bellissimo.The weather was very nice.
fare
to do / to make
Facevo sempre i compiti.I always used to do my homework.
di solito
usually
Di solito pranzavamo alle due.Usually we used to have lunch at two.
spesso
often
Spesso andavamo al cinema.We often used to go to the cinema.
sempre
always
Mio padre cucinava sempre.My father always used to cook.

Lessons are prepared with the help of AI.

Patterns

Da piccolo, ___ sempre ___.

Describing childhood habits: 'As a child, I always used to [verb].'

Da piccolo, giocavo sempre a calcio.As a child, I always used to play soccer.

Ogni estate ___ in ___.

Describing recurring summer routines: 'Every summer we used to go to [place].'

Ogni estate andavamo in montagna.Every summer we used to go to the mountains.

Di solito ___ alle ___.

Describing habitual daily routines: 'Usually we used to [action] at [time].'

Di solito cenavamo alle otto.Usually we used to have dinner at eight.