The Italian imperfetto (imperfect) tense can express actions that lasted an indefinite amount of time in the past, habitual actions in the past, or expressions of age, time, and weather in the past. Because of its wide range of uses, the imperfetto appears much more frequently in Italian than the imperfect does in English.

 

Conjugating the Imperfetto

The infinitives of regular Italian verbs end in either –ARE, –ERE, or –IRE. These are referred to as first, second, and third conjugation verbs, respectively. Similar to the present tense, you conjugate the imperfetto by removing the infinitive ending and replacing it with the appropriate subject pronoun ending.

 

First Conjugation: –ARE Verbs

Subject Pronoun	Ending	Lavorare to work	Translation
io	-avo	lavoravo	I was working
tu	-avi	lavoravi	you were working
lui/lei	-ava	lavorava	he/she/it was working
noi	-avamo	lavoravamo	we were working
voi	-avate	lavoravate	of you were working
loro	-avano	lavoravano	they were working

 

 

Second Conjugation: –ERE Verbs

Subject Pronoun	Ending	Credere to believe	Translation
io	-evo	credevo	I believed
tu	-evi	credevi	you believed
lui/lei	-eva	credeva	he/she/it believed
noi	-evamo	credevamo	we believed
voi	-evate	credevate	all of you believed
loro	-evano	credevano	they believed

 

 

Third Conjugation: –IRE Verb Conjugations

Subject Pronoun	Ending	Partire to leave	Translation
io	-ivo	partivo	I was leaving
tu	-ivi	partivi	you were leaving
lui/lei	-iva	partiva	he/she/it was leaving
noi	-ivamo	partivamo	we were leaving
voi	-ivate	partivate	all of you were leaving
loro	-ivano	partivano	they were leaving

 

The Imperfetto of Avere and Essere

The auxiliary verbs avere (to have, to own, or to wear) and essere (to be) are used in many grammatical constructions, including compound tenses. The trapassato prossimo (past perfect), for example, is formed by combining the imperfetto of avere or essere with the past participle of the main verb. As with all tenses, avere and essere are irregular in the imperfetto.

 

Subject Pronoun	Avere to have	Essere to be
io	avevo	ero
tu	avevi	eri
lui/lei	aveva	era
noi	avevamo	eravamo
voi	avevate	eravate
loro	avevano	erano