The Imperfect Tense (L’Imperfetto)

The Imperfetto is the storytelling tense of Italian. While Passato Prossimo tells you WHAT happened, Imperfetto sets the scene, describes how things were, or talks about what you “used to” do.

When to Use Imperfetto

Use the Imperfetto for:

1. Habitual actions in the past (“used to”):

   • Da piccolo giocavo sempre a calcio. (When I was little, I used to play soccer always.)

2. Descriptions in the past (weather, age, feelings, appearance):

   • Il cielo era blu. (The sky was blue.)
   • Avevo 10 anni. (I was 10 years old.)
   • Ero felice. (I was happy.)

3. Ongoing actions interrupted by another action:

   • Mentre mangiavo, il telefono ha squillato. (While I was eating, the phone rang.)
   • Note: Mangiavo (ongoing background) vs ha squillato (sudden event).

4. Two ongoing actions happening at the same time:

   • Mentre io studiavo, lui leggeva. (While I was studying, he was reading.)

Conjugation (Regular Verbs)

The Imperfetto is very regular! You remove the -re from the infinitive and add these endings: -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano.

Subject	-ARE (parlare)	-ERE (leggere)	-IRE (dormire)
io	parlavo	leggevo	dormivo
tu	parlavi	leggevi	dormivi
lui/lei	parlava	leggeva	dormiva
noi	parlavamo	leggevamo	dormivamo
voi	parlavate	leggevate	dormivate
loro	parlavano	leggevano	dormivano

Irregular Verbs

Good news: There are very few irregular verbs in Imperfetto! The most important is Essere.

Essere (To be) - IRREGULAR

This is the only truly irregular one you must memorize completely.

Subject	Conjugation
io	ero
tu	eri
lui/lei	era
noi	eravamo
voi	eravate
loro	erano

Others (Irregular Stems)

Some verbs use a slightly old stem, but the endings are regular (-vo, -vi, etc.).

• Bere (to drink) → stem beve- → bevevo, bevevi…
• Fare (to do/make) → stem face- → facevo, facevi…
• Dire (to say) → stem dice- → dicevo, dicevi…
• Tradurre (to translate) → stem traduce- → traducevo, traducevi…

Imperfetto vs. Passato Prossimo

This is the hardest part for learners. Here’s a cheat sheet:

Imperfetto (Background / Setting)	Passato Prossimo (Event / Plot)
Ongoing action (I was eating)	Completed action (I ate)
Habitual (I used to go)	One-time event (I went yesterday)
Description (It was cold)	Change of state (It started raining)
“While…” (Mentre…)	”Suddenly…” (All’improvviso…)

Example of both together: Ieri faceva (Imp) freddo, così ho messo (PP) il cappotto. (Yesterday it was cold [description], so I put on my coat [event].)

Common Time Words for Imperfetto

These words often signal you need the Imperfetto:

• Mentre (while)
• Di solito (usually - in the past)
• Sempre (always - habitual)
• Ogni giorno / Ogni estate (every day / every summer)
• Da bambino / Da piccolo (as a child)

Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Using Passato Prossimo for age or weather

• Wrong: Ho avuto 10 anni.
• Right: * Avevo 10 anni.*
• Wrong: È stato freddo.
• Right: * Faceva freddo.*

❌ Using Imperfetto for specific one-time events

• Wrong: Ieri andavo al cinema. (Unless you mean “I was on my way…”)
• Right: Ieri sono andato al cinema.

Practice Exercises

Choose between Imperfetto and Passato Prossimo:

1. Da piccolo, (io - amare) _______ il gelato.
2. Ieri (io - andare) _______ al supermercato.
3. Mentre (io - camminare) _______, ho incontrato Marco.
4. (Essere) _______ le otto di sera.
5. L’anno scorso (noi - andare) _______ in Italia.
6. Ogni estate (noi - andare) _______ al mare.
7. La casa (essere) _______ molto grande.
8. All’improvviso (iniziare) _______ a piovere.
9. (Io - avere) _______ fame, così ho mangiato un panino.
10. Lui (guardare) _______ la TV quando sono arrivato.

Answers

1. amavo (Habitual: I used to love)
2. sono andato (One-time event yesterday)
3. camminavo (Ongoing action interrupted)
4. Erano (Time description)
5. siamo andati (Specific trip last year)
6. andavamo (Habitual: Every summer)
7. era (Description)
8. ha iniziato (Sudden event)
9. Avevo (Feeling/State)
10. guardava (Ongoing action when…)

Mastering the Imperfetto unlocks your ability to tell stories about your past! Keep practicing! 📖