Conjugating regular Italian verbs in the imperfect tense

The imperfect tense can actually be used in a few different ways. The examples below illustrate how it is used to show what was happening in the past. Example, I was reading a book when… .We will cover other uses of the imperfect tense in class. The imperfect tense is also relatively easy to learn. In essence all three conjugations have very similar endings. The only difference between the endings for each conjugation (ARE, ERE and IRE) is the first letter the endings start with. For instance all of the endings for ARE verbs start with “a”, endings for ERE verbs start with “e” and the endings for the IRE verbs start with “i”. This is illustrated below.
To illustrate how to conjugate these verbs, I like to use math equations as an example but first here are the conjugated endings for all regular verbs;
Subject PronounIo Tu Lui/Lei Noi Voi Loro |
Verbs ending in AREavo avi ava avamo avate avano |
Verbs ending in EREevo evi eva evamo evate evano |
Verbs ending in IREivo ivi iva ivamo ivate ivano |
To conjugate the regular ARE verbs in the imperfect tense = infinitive verb – infinitive ending = verb stem + conjugated ending = conjugated verb. Example;
Parlare (To Speak) – are = Parl + avamo (ending for we) = Parlavamo (We were speaking)
Parlare conjugated in the imperfect tense
Io Tu Lui/Lei Noi Voi Loro |
Parlavo Parlavi Parlava Parlavamo Parlavate Parlavano |
I was speaking You were speaking He/She/It was speaking We were speaking Y’all were speaking They were speaking |
To conjugate the regular ERE verbs in the imperfect tense = infinitive verb – infinitive ending = verb stem + conjugated ending = conjugated verb. Example;
Leggere (To Read) – ere = Legg + evamo (ending for we) = Leggevamo (We were reading)
Leggere conjugated in the imperfect tense
Io Tu Lui/Lei Noi Voi Loro |
Leggevo Leggevi Leggeva Leggevamo Leggevate Leggevano |
I was reading You were reading He/She/It was reading We were reading Y’all were reading They were reading |
To conjugate the regular IRE verbs in the imperfect tense = infinitive verb – infinitive ending = verb stem + conjugated ending = conjugated verb. Example;
Vestire (To Dress) – ire = Vest + ivamo (ending for we) = Vestivamo (We were dressing)
Vestire conjugated in the imperfect tense
Io Tu Lui/Lei Noi Voi Loro |
Vestivo Vestivi Vestiva Vestivamo Vestivate Vestivano |
I was dressing You were dressing He/She/It was dressing We were dressing Y’all were dressing They were dressing |
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