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 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 |
As with all other tenses, there are verbs that are irregular. These verbs will be covered in another lesson.
| You can learn more about the imperfect tense of Italian verbs on pages 80 -82 of the book "English Grammar for Students of Italian" by Sergio Adorni and Karen Primorac, copyright 1995. If you do not own this book, don't worry, it is not mandatory that you do. However, it can be very useful in a lot of ways and if you would like to know more about this book and where to buy it, click on the graphic link to the right or simply go to our online bookstore. | You can learn more about the imperfect tense of Italian verbs on pages 186 - 191 (page #'s may vary as I have an older edition) of "Ciao", copyright 1986. If you do not own this book, don't worry, it is not mandatory that you do. However, it can be very useful in a lot of ways and if you would like to know more about this book and where to buy it, click on the graphic link to the right or simply go to our online bookstore. | You can learn more about the imperfect tense of Italian verbs on pages 39 - 43 of "Italian Verb Drills" by Paola Nanni-Tate, copyright 2011. If you do not own this book, don't worry, it is not mandatory that you do. However, it can be very useful in a lot of ways and if you would like to know more about this book and where to buy it, click on the graphic link to the right or simply go to our online bookstore. |
