Enhanced Comprehensive Italian Level 2 - Lesson #5

Conjugating regular Italian Verbs in the Imperfect Tense, More verbs

After this class you should;
Be able to distinguish when to use the imperfect instead of passato prossimo.
Be able to conjugate Italian verbs in the Imperfect Tense
Be able to identify and use many new verbs in Italian conversations.

Grammar 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 Pronoun Io Tu Lui/Lei Noi Voi Loro Verbs ending in ARE avo avi ava avamo avate avano Verbs ending in ERE evo evi eva evamo evate evano Verbs ending in IRE ivo 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 Read) - 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 As with all other tenses, there are verbs that are irregular. These verbs will be covered in another lesson.
	Printable Homework
	Basic Exercise on the imperfect tense.
Vocabulary aiutare cambiare cominciare contare fermare giocare guidare gustare imparare insegnare trasmettere temere succedere spingere scendere to help to change to begin to count to stop to play to drive to taste to learn to teach to broadcast to fear to happen to push to descend rompere risolvere promuovere promettere prendere soffrire servire offrire mentire investire aderire attribuire benedire colpire costruire to break to resolve to promote to promise to take to suffer to serve to offer to lie to invest to adhere to attribute to bless to hit to build
	Printable Vocabulary Printable large flash cards (English Side) Printable large flash cards (Italian Side) Printable small flash cards (English Side) Printable small flash cards (Italian Side)
	Downloadable Podcast
	basic vocabulary exercise on more verbs Exercise (Italian to English) Exercise (English to Italian)
	printable crossword
Comprehension
	Printable Practice Sheets
	printable comprehension crossword
	Useful Italian phrase; tra me e me .... to myself ....
Class Dialog Using only the vocabulary we have learned so far, learn how to say everything below in Italian (except what is in " "), print out and bring the printable form of this dialog and be prepared to say the dialog below for one of the persons in class. (try to use the weak form for indirect object pronouns as much as possible). Person #1 – Good afternoon ________. Person #2 – Good afternoon ________. How are you? Person #1 – I am very good, thank you. Do you want to go out? Person #2 –Yes, I was hoping to go out! What do you want to do? Person #1 – Today I thought, we need to play soccer with the boys. Person #2 – You are very kind but the boys do not play soccer. Person #1 – They do not play soccer? They are Italian! Person #2 – They used to play soccer but now they like American football. Person #1 – Help me to understand. Why do they like American football? Person #2 – Every Saturday I teach American football at the school. Person #1 – They play football every Saturday? Person #2 – Yes but next Saturday we will begin to play Golf. Person #1 – Ok, we can’t play soccer. Do you want to go shopping? Person #2 – Yes I want to go shopping, we can take the bus. Person #1 – I don’t want to take the bus. Let’s drive! Person #2 – I don’t drive now. I don’t have a car anymore. Person #1 – Ok, let’s walk! Person #2 – You can’t go to the store on foot. It’s too far. Person #1 – Ok, let’s take a taxi! Person #2 – OK, good idea, let’s go. printable class dialog

You can learn more about the Imperfect Tense on these pages of the following books.

80 - 82 of the book "English Grammar for Students of Italian" by Sergio Adorni and Karen Primorac, copyright 1995.
186 - 188 (page #'s may vary as I have an older edition) of "Ciao" by Carla Federici & Carla Larese Riga, copyright 1986.
141 - 144 of the book "Complete Italian Grammar" by Marcel Dansesi, copyright 1976.
259 - 266 of the book "Italian Grammar Drills" by Paola Nanni-Tate, copyright 2007.
39 - 43 of the book "Italian Verb Drills" (Third Edition) by Paola Nanni-Tate, copyright 2011.

If you do not own these books, don't worry, it is not mandatory that you do unless you were instructed to buy them at the beginning of the class. However, they can be very useful in a lot of ways and if you would like to know more about these books and where to buy them, simply go to our online bookstore or quicker yet, just click on the appropriate book below.

Did you know?

"Capri , Lat. Capreae, island (1987 est. pop. 7,750), 4 sq mi (10.4 sq km), Campania, S Italy, in the Bay of Naples off the tip of the Sorrento Peninsula. It is an international tourist center, celebrated for its striking scenery, delightful climate, and luxurious vegetation. There are two small towns on the island, Capri and Anacapri....The local architecture has Roman, Norman, and Arabic features"

Some areas you will want to see while at Capri are; The Blue Grotto and the remains of the 12 fine villas built there by the Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius

You can find this information and more at Capri Facts, information, pictures

You can see a just few pictures of Capri here.

Have you heard?

Do you think you could enjoyed a nice romantic dinner on the Amalfi coast? Maybe a glass of wine, award winning food, sunset, Italian spoken beautifully and perhaps a beautiful ballad being played by a small ensemble highlighting naturally the piano, the vocalist and the story it tells. If that sounds enjoyable then you are going to love "Per ricordarmi di te" by Sergio Cammariere

This and many other great songs are available on --->

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