How it used to be: ero, avevo, facevo

Forms: drop -re, add -vo

Take the infinitive, drop -re, and add the endings -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano. The vowel before -re stays, so -are verbs give -avo, -ere verbs give -evo and -ire verbs give -ivo.

Many verbs that are irregular in the present are regular here: andare → andavo, venire → venivo, uscire → uscivo, volere → volevo. And -ire verbs like capire lose their -isc-: capivo, never capiscivo.

Io and loro stress the same syllable: par-LA-vo, par-LA-va-no. Noi and voi move it forward: par-la-VA-mo, par-la-VA-te.

essere, and three old stems

Essere has its own forms: ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate, erano. You’ll use them constantly for descriptions.

Fare, bere and dire build the imperfetto on older stems, then take the regular endings: fac- (facevo), bev- (bevevo), dic- (dicevo). You already hear these stems in facciamo, bevo and diciamo.

Habits: what used to happen

Use the imperfetto for things that happened again and again. English says I used to play or I would play; Italian just says giocavo.

Time words point to it: sempre, di solito, spesso, ogni estate, la domenica, da bambino (as a child), quando ero piccolo. For a single, finished event you still use the passato prossimo: Ieri sono andato al mare, but Ogni estate andavamo al mare.

Da bambino and da piccolo mean as a child. Make them agree: da bambina, da piccoli.

Describing people, places and weather

When you describe how someone or something was, use the imperfetto: what they looked like, what they were like, what there was. C’era (there was) and c’erano (there were) are the past of c’è and ci sono.

Weather works the same way. Italian uses fare for hot and cold (faceva freddo, faceva caldo) and its own verbs for rain and snow (pioveva, nevicava). Feelings and states belong here too: ero stanco, avevo fame.

It was cold is faceva freddo. Era freddo describes a thing: il caffè era freddo.

Age and the time

Age uses avere, just as in the present: ho trent’anni becomes avevo dieci anni. Ero dieci anni copies English, and it’s wrong in Italian.

Clock time uses essere, plural like the hours: erano le otto. Only one o’clock, midday and midnight are singular: era l’una, era mezzogiorno, era mezzanotte.

In progress: mentre

The imperfetto also shows an action in progress at some moment in the past, like English was doing. Mentre (while) almost always takes it: Mentre cucinavo, ascoltavo la radio.

Often the imperfetto sets the scene and a passato prossimo says what happened: Mentre leggevo, è arrivato Marco. Choosing between the two is the next topic, so for now just notice the pattern: the background in the imperfetto, the event in the passato prossimo.

At the bar you’ll hear volevo as a polite request: Volevo un caffè, per favore. It means I’d like, just like vorrei.

Common mistakes

• Ero dieci anni.Avevo dieci anni.Age uses avere in Italian, in the past too.
• Ieri sera era freddo.Ieri sera faceva freddo.Weather uses fare: faceva freddo, faceva caldo.
• Era le otto.Erano le otto.Hours are plural: erano le otto. Only l’una takes era.
• Da bambino capiscivo il francese.Da bambino capivo il francese.The -isc- is only in the present: capivo.
• Di solito sono andato a scuola a piedi.Di solito andavo a scuola a piedi.Di solito marks a habit, so use the imperfetto.
• Io farevo sport.Io facevo sport.Fare uses the old stem fac-: facevo.
• Noi eramo stanchi.Noi eravamo stanchi.Noi and voi take the full endings: eravamo, eravate.

The full table

Drop -re and add the endings. They’re the same for all three verb families.

Habits and descriptions: da bambino giocavo, era alto, faceva freddo.

Age with avere, time with essere: avevo dieci anni, erano le otto.

In progress, often with mentre: mentre cucinavo, ascoltavo la radio.