Verb Drills 1 - Lesson 9
Italian verbs in the imperfect tense
After this class you should;Be able to conjugate regular and irregular Italian verbs in the Imperfect Tense
GrammarConjugating regular Italian verbs in the imperfect tenseThe 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;
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
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
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
As with all other tenses, there are verbs that are irregular. | ||||||||||||||
 Printable Homework |
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 Basic Exercise on the imperfect tense. advanced online exercise
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Vocabulary
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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)
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 Downloadable Podcast
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basic exercise |
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 printable crossword
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Comprehension | ||||||||||||||
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printable video dialog coming soon | |||||||||||||
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Printable Practice Sheets
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printable comprehension crossword
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useful Italian phrase; Guarisci presto! Auguri di pronta guarigione! Get well soon! |
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Class DialogTry to learn how to say everything below in Italian (using the simple present tense for the progressive present), 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.Person #1 – Hi ________. Person #2 – Hello __________, how are you? Person #1 – Very well, and you, how are you? Person #2 – I am well, thank you. What are you doing this evening (sta sera)? Person #1 – I will be home (a casa) tonight, why? Person #2 – My friends (i miei amici) and I are going dancing. Do you want to come with us? Person #1 – No thank you, I used to dance but I don’t dance any more. Person #2 – I thought you were dancing at Marias birthday party (festa di compleanno). Person #1 – My brother was dancing at the party. I don’t go to parties. Person #2 – You never go to a party? Why not? Person #1 – I don’t like the noise (rumore) and I don’t like a room (stanza) that is crowded (affollato). It makes me nervous. Person #2 – Do you remember a party? Person #1 – Yes, when I was seven but I can’t talk about it. Person #2 – You can’t talk about it or you do not talk about it. Person #1 – I can’t talk about it. Person#2 – Why not? Person#1 – Because it isn’t true, I am joking (scherzo)! Person#2 – What? Person #1 – Let’s go dancing. Person #2 – ok, let’s go! printable class dialog
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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?
" Calabria is a region in southern Italy, occupying the "toe" of the Italian peninsula. Calabria is intersected by the Apennines range (Appennino Calabro), starting from the Sila plateau. The southernmost tip of the range is the Aspromonte massif. "This information about Lazio obtained from http://www.freeworldmaps.net/europe/italy/political.html
Have you heard?
Unfortunately at the time that I put this class together Laura's CD Inedito was very new and there just weren't too many studio videos from that CD. In fact I couldn't find any other besides "Benvenuto" but I did want you to hear another song from the CD so here is Laura with "Non ho mai smesso"|
great songs are available on ---> |
