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4.2 Grammatica Imperfetto
4.2 Grammatica Imperfetto
4.2
Grammatica
Imperfetto
Imperfetto
is
a
past
tense
used
for
habitual
events
in
the
past,
actions
in
progress
in
the
past,
descriptions
and
state
of
being
in
the
past.
Imperfetto
corresponds
to
the
English:
I
used
to
work,
I
was
working
Imperfetto
also
corresponds
to
the
English
“I
would
work”
only
when
“would”
is
used
to
express
habitual
actions
(and
not
when
it’s
used
in
the
conditional
present
tense).
For
ex.:
When
I
was
in
college,
I
would
work
only
in
summer.
(Quando
ero
all’università,
lavoravo
solo
in
estate)
Imperfetto
is
a
one
word
tense
(unlike
passato
prossimo
which
is
a
compound
tense
formed
by
two
parts).
To
form
imperfetto,
take
the
infinitive
form
of
any
verb
and
drop
the
final
–re;
then
add
the
following
endings
to
the
root:
-‐vo,
-‐vi,
-‐va,
-‐vamo,
-‐vate,
-‐vano
lavora
–vo,
-‐vi,
-‐va,
vamo,
-‐vate,
-‐vano
prende
–vo,
-‐vi,
-‐va,
vamo,
-‐vate,
-‐vano
preferi
–vo,
-‐vi,
-‐va,
vamo,
-‐vate,
-‐vano
(io)
lavoravo
(noi)
lavoravamo
(tu)
lavoravi
(voi)
lavoravate
(lui
/
lei
/
Lei)
lavorava
(loro)
lavoravano
The
following
verbs
have
an
irregular
root
(in
parenthesis
below)
in
the
imperfetto:
bere
(beve-‐)
bevevo,
bevevi,
beveva,
bevevamo,
bevevate,
bevevano
(to
drink)
dire
(dice-‐)
dicevo,
dicevi,
diceva,
dicevamo,
dicevate,
dicevano
(to
say)
fare
(face-‐)
facevo,
facevi,
faceva,
facevamo,
facevate,
facevano
(to
do,
make)
produrre
(produce-‐)
producevo,
producevi,
produceva,
(to
produce)
producevamo,
producevate,
producevano
proporre
(propone-‐)
proponevo,
proponevi,
proponeva,
(to
propose)
proponevamo,
proponevate,
proponevano
1
UNIT
4.2
Grammatica
tradurre
(traduce-‐)
traducevo,
traducevi,
traduceva,
(to
translate)
traducevamo,
traducevate,
traducevano
The
verb
essere
is
irregular
in
the
imperfetto:
(io)
ero
(noi)
eravamo
(tu)
eri
(voi)
eravate
(lui
/
lei
/
Lei)
era
(loro)
erano
The
following
expressions
of
time
are
commonly
used
with
imperfetto:
prima
before
di
solito,
generalmente
usually
sempre
always
tutti
i
giorni,
tutti
gli
anni,
ecc.
every
day,
every
year,
etc.
da
piccolo/a,
da
giovane,
ecc.
when
I
was
little,
young,
etc.
Imperfetto
e
Passato
Prossimo
Imperfetto
is
used
for
…
Passato
prossimo
is
used
for
…
-‐
habitual
actions
in
the
past:
-‐
actions,
facts,
and
events
completed
in
the
past:
Quando
frequentavo
il
liceo,
giocavo
a
Ieri
sono
andata
in
centro.
calcio.
(Yesterday
I
went
downtown.)
(When
I
attended
high
school,
I
used
to
play
soccer.)
-‐
actions
in
progress
in
the
past
without
clear
-‐
actions,
facts
and
events
in
the
past
with
clear
beginning
beginning
or
ending:
and
ending:
Correvo
quando
sono
caduto.
Ho
studiato
italiano
per
due
anni.
(I
was
running
when
I
fell.)
(I
studied
Italian
for
two
years.)
Abbiamo
abitato
a
Roma
dal
2000
al
2005.
(We
lived
in
Rome
from
2000
till
2005.)
-‐
conditions,
intentions,
and
situations
in
the
-‐
single
actions,
facts
and
events
in
the
past
when
the
past:
expression
of
time
“once”
(or
twice,
three
times,
etc.)
is
used:
Volevo
scusarmi,
ma
non
l’ho
vista.
Sono
stato
a
Roma
due
volte.
(I
wanted
to
apologize,
but
I
didn’t
see
her.)
(I
have
been
to
Rome
twice.)
Quando
ero
all’università,
ero
povero:
non
Ho
visitato
il
Vaticano
molte
volte.
avevo
neanche
i
soldi
per
il
cinema!
(I
have
visited
the
Vatican
many
times.)
(When
I
was
in
college,
I
was
poor.
I
didn’t
even
have
the
money
for
the
movies!)
2
UNIT
4.2
Grammatica
Imperfetto
is
used
for
…
(cont.)
-‐
description
in
the
past
(such
as
personal
and
physical
characteristics,
and
the
weather)
Da
piccolo
ero
molto
timido.
(When
I
was
little
I
was
very
shy.)
Quando
siamo
arrivati
a
Milano
faceva
molto
caldo.
(When
we
arrived
in
Milan
it
was
very
hot.)
-‐
telling
age
in
the
past:
Avevo
dieci
anni
quando
è
nata
mia
sorella.
(I
was
ten
when
my
sister
was
born.)
-‐
telling
the
time
in
the
past:
Erano
le
due
di
notte
quando
finalmente
siamo
arrivati
a
casa.
(It
was
2:00
am
when
we
finally
arrived
home.)
3