Imperfect Tense in Italian

In Brief

The Italian imperfetto presents a past situation from the inside: as ongoing, repeated, descriptive, or without a stated endpoint. Use it for meanings such as “I used to play,” “I was sleeping,” and “it was cold.” Most verbs form it regularly from the infinitive: parlare → parlavo, credere → credevo, dormire → dormivo.

Overview

The imperfetto is a past tense used when the speaker is not treating an action as one complete event. It often describes what was happening, what used to happen, or what a person, place, or situation was like. In a story, it commonly supplies the setting and background against which completed events occur.

English expresses these ideas in several ways: “was doing,” “used to do,” “would do,” or sometimes the simple past. Italian often uses the single form facevo for all of them. You therefore cannot choose the Italian tense simply by matching an English verb form; you need to consider how the past situation is being viewed.

The imperfetto is a core B1 topic. Its endings are quite regular, but choosing between it and a completed past tense—especially the passato prossimo—takes practice. The crucial contrast is usually not “long action versus short action.” It is ongoing/background/habitual viewpoint versus completed event viewpoint.

How It Works

Regular formation

Start with the infinitive (the dictionary form, such as parlare), remove final -re, and add the personal ending. This leaves the characteristic vowel of each verb group:

• parla-re → parlavo
• crede-re → credevo
• dormi-re → dormivo

Person	parlare (to speak)	credere (to believe)	dormire (to sleep)
io	parlavo	credevo	dormivo
tu	parlavi	credevi	dormivi
lui/lei/Lei	parlava	credeva	dormiva
noi	parlavamo	credevamo	dormivamo
voi	parlavate	credevate	dormivate
loro	parlavano	credevano	dormivano

The endings follow one stable pattern. Only the vowel before v changes:

Person	-are	-ere	-ire
io	-avo	-evo	-ivo
tu	-avi	-evi	-ivi
lui/lei/Lei	-ava	-eva	-iva
noi	-avamo	-evamo	-ivamo
voi	-avate	-evate	-ivate
loro	-avano	-evano	-ivano

The stress falls on the first vowel of the ending in noi forms: parlavàmo, credevàmo, dormivàmo. Written Italian does not mark that stress with an accent.

The main irregular forms

There are relatively few irregular stems. Essere is the essential exception and must be learned as a complete set.

Person	essere (to be)	fare (to do/make)	dire (to say)	bere (to drink)
io	ero	facevo	dicevo	bevevo
tu	eri	facevi	dicevi	bevevi
lui/lei/Lei	era	faceva	diceva	beveva
noi	eravamo	facevamo	dicevamo	bevevamo
voi	eravate	facevate	dicevate	bevevate
loro	erano	facevano	dicevano	bevevano

The stems face-, dice-, and beve- reflect older full infinitives (facere, dicere, bevere). In practice, it is simplest to memorize facevo, dicevo, and bevevo as model forms; their personal endings are otherwise regular.

Four central uses

1. Past habits and repeated actions

Use the imperfetto for something that happened regularly or characteristically over a past period. Expressions such as sempre (always), spesso (often), ogni estate (every summer), and di solito (usually) frequently support this meaning.

Da studente prendevo sempre l’autobus. — “As a student, I always took the bus.”

English “would” can express a repeated past action, but only when the context clearly places it in the past. Italian imperfetto does not need an equivalent of “would”: Ogni sera leggeva means “Every evening she would read.”

2. Actions in progress at a past moment

Use it for an action already underway at a particular time:

Alle otto cenavamo. — “At eight we were having dinner.”

The sentence shows the action in progress; it does not say when dinner began or ended. Italian can also use stare + gerund (stavamo cenando) to emphasize the action in progress, but the ordinary imperfetto is often enough.

3. Description and background

The imperfetto sets a scene: weather, time, age, appearance, feelings, possession, and surrounding circumstances.

Era tardi, pioveva e le strade erano vuote. — “It was late, it was raining, and the streets were empty.”

These clauses answer questions like “What was the situation?” rather than “What happened next?”

4. States in the past

Verbs of knowing, wanting, believing, feeling, and having often appear in the imperfetto when they describe an ongoing state: sapevo (I knew), volevo (I wanted), pensavo (I thought), avevo (I had). This is a common place where English simple past corresponds to Italian imperfetto.

Non sapevo la risposta. — “I didn’t know the answer.”

Imperfetto and completed events

A tense viewpoint is the way a speaker presents an event. The same real-world situation can sometimes be viewed as unfolding or as complete.

Viewpoint	Italian	Natural English
Situation in progress/background	Leggevo quando hai chiamato.	I was reading when you called.
Complete event	Ho letto il libro ieri.	I read the book yesterday.
Repeated past habit	Leggevo ogni sera.	I used to read every evening.
Counted completed repetitions	Ho letto quel libro tre volte.	I read that book three times.

A time expression does not automatically determine the tense. Ieri alle otto lavoravo presents work as ongoing at eight; ieri ho lavorato per otto ore presents eight hours of work as a completed whole.

Examples in Context

Italian	English	Note
Quando ero piccolo, giocavo sempre in cortile.	When I was little, I always played in the courtyard.	Childhood state and habit
Da bambina andava spesso al mare.	As a child, she often went to the beach.	Repeated past action
Ogni domenica i nonni preparavano il pranzo.	Every Sunday, our grandparents made lunch.	Regular routine
Mentre dormivo, è arrivato Marco.	While I was sleeping, Marco arrived.	Ongoing background plus completed event
Cosa facevi ieri alle otto?	What were you doing yesterday at eight?	Action in progress at a stated time
Quando siamo usciti, pioveva ancora.	When we went out, it was still raining.	Weather as background
La casa era piccola, ma aveva un bel giardino.	The house was small, but it had a beautiful garden.	Description and possession
A vent’anni vivevo a Bologna.	At twenty, I lived in Bologna.	Past life situation
Non capivo perché tutti ridevano.	I didn’t understand why everyone was laughing.	Ongoing mental state and action
Sapevi già la notizia?	Did you already know the news?	Past state; English uses simple past
Aspettavamo l’autobus quando abbiamo visto Lucia.	We were waiting for the bus when we saw Lucia.	Background interrupted by an event
Di solito bevevo il caffè dopo pranzo.	I usually drank coffee after lunch.	Habit
Volevo chiederle un favore.	I wanted to ask you a favor.	Polite, softened request
Pensavo che il negozio fosse aperto.	I thought the shop was open.	Past belief

Common Mistakes

Using the present endings after the stem

• Wrong: Quando ero piccolo, giocavo e mio fratello gioca con me.
• Right: Quando ero piccolo, giocavo e mio fratello giocava con me.
• Why: Both habitual actions belong to the past setting. Giocava, not present-tense gioca, supplies the third-person imperfect ending.

Building the tense from the first-person present

• Wrong: Facevo treated as an unpredictable form based on faccio.
• Right: fare → facevo.
• Why: Form the imperfect from its own stem, not from the present-tense form. The same principle gives dicevo, not a form based on dico.

Using the imperfetto for a single completed event

• Wrong: Ieri compravo un biglietto e poi entravo al museo when reporting two completed events.
• Right: Ieri ho comprato un biglietto e poi sono entrato al museo.
• Why: A sequence of events that advances the story is normally presented as complete. The imperfetto would instead make the actions sound ongoing, habitual, or like background.

Assuming every English simple past needs a completed Italian tense

• Wrong: Da piccolo ho avuto paura dei cani when describing a lasting childhood fear.
• Right: Da piccolo avevo paura dei cani.
• Why: English simple past can describe a state. Italian normally uses the imperfetto here because the fear lasted over an unspecified period.

Choosing by action length alone

• Wrong rule: “Long actions use the imperfetto; short actions use the passato prossimo.”
• Better rule: Choose according to viewpoint.
• Why: A long event can be complete (Ho vissuto lì per dieci anni), while a quick action can be habitual (Ogni mattina apriva la finestra). Duration by itself does not decide the tense.

Overusing stavo + gerund

• Less natural in a neutral context: Alle otto stavo mangiando la cena.
• Often more natural: Alle otto cenavo.
• Why: The imperfect form itself can express an action in progress. Stare + gerund is useful when you want to emphasize the action’s being underway, but English “was doing” does not always require it.

Usage Notes

The subject pronoun is normally omitted because the ending identifies the person: Parlavo con Anna naturally means “I was talking to Anna.” Add io, tu, and other pronouns for contrast or clarity: Io lavoravo, mentre loro riposavano (“I was working while they were resting”).

With mentre (“while”), the imperfetto often marks one or two simultaneous ongoing actions: Mentre cucinavo, Luca apparecchiava. If a completed event occurs during an ongoing action, Italian commonly combines the tenses: Mentre cucinavo, Luca ha telefonato.

Negation is straightforward: place non before the verb (non dormivo). Object pronouns also come before the conjugated verb: non lo vedevo (“I couldn’t/didn’t see him/it”), mi chiamava spesso (“she called me often”).

The imperfetto is frequent in conversation and writing. It is not literary or old-fashioned. In narratives, switching between background in the imperfetto and events in a completed tense is one of the main ways Italian organizes a story.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Polite and tentative language

Italian sometimes uses the imperfetto to make a request or intention sound less abrupt. This is often called the imperfect of politeness: the past form creates distance from the immediate demand.

• Volevo un’informazione. — “I wanted some information.”
• Cercavo la stazione. — “I was looking for the station.”
• Desideravo parlare con la direttrice. — “I wanted to speak with the director.”

The speaker usually still wants the information or conversation now. This use is especially common with volere, cercare, and desiderare. It is courteous, though not the only polite option; the conditional vorrei (“I would like”) is also extremely common.

Changes of meaning through viewpoint

Some verbs acquire a different practical interpretation depending on the past tense. The lexical meaning of the verb remains related, but the viewpoint changes what the listener infers.

Imperfetto	Completed past	Typical contrast
Sapevo la verità.	Ho saputo la verità.	I knew the truth / I found out the truth
Conoscevo Paolo.	Ho conosciuto Paolo.	I knew Paolo / I met Paolo
Volevo partire.	Ho voluto partire.	I wanted to leave / I insisted on or deliberately chose to leave
Potevo aiutarlo.	Ho potuto aiutarlo.	I was able/could have helped him / I managed to help him

These are not mechanical translations valid in every context, but they reveal why viewpoint matters. With a state in the imperfetto, attention rests on the state itself. A completed form can mark entry into the state, its realization, or a bounded result.

Two imperfect forms together

When two actions were unfolding at the same time, both can use the imperfetto:

Mentre io lavavo i piatti, Marta asciugava i bicchieri. — “While I was washing the dishes, Marta was drying the glasses.”

Neither action is presented as interrupting or completing the other. By contrast, Mentre lavavo i piatti, Marta ha rotto un bicchiere makes the broken glass a completed event within that background.

Narrative effects

In informal storytelling, speakers may use a series of imperfect forms to place the listener inside a scene: Camminavo, guardavo le vetrine, pensavo ai fatti miei... The effect is open-ended and immersive. A completed past then brings in the event that moves the story forward: ...quando ho sentito il mio nome. This is a stylistic tendency, not a rigid equation of “background tense” and “event tense”; context and the speaker’s chosen viewpoint remain decisive.

Practice Tips

1. Build three mini-stories. Describe a childhood routine, a room, and what you were doing at a particular time. This forces you to practice habit, description, and ongoing action separately.
2. Pair background with an event. Make ten sentences on the pattern Mentre ___, ___: put the ongoing action in the imperfetto and the completed event in the passato prossimo, as in Mentre studiavo, è suonato il telefono.
3. Learn forms by columns, not one verb at a time. Say -avo, -avi, -ava, -avamo, -avate, -avano, then transfer the same pattern to -ere and -ire verbs. Keep a separate card for ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate, erano.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Regular -ARE Verbs — provides the basic idea of matching verb stems and personal endings.
• Next step: Passato prossimo vs imperfetto — study the contrast between background, habits, and completed events after the imperfect forms feel familiar.