Italian Imperfetto is one of the most simple Past Tense, but it can be very confusing since most non-romance languages don’t use it. Also, it is one of the most used past tenses along with Passato Prossimo and it can be very tricky to understand when to use Italian Imperfetto or Passato prossimo learning their differences and uses in context.
By the way, once you master these Italian Past Tenses, you will find out that Italian Imperfetto is quite simple to study:
What is the Italian Imperfetto?
Italian Imperfetto is generally employed to mention events that happened regularly for a certain amount of time in the past, actions occurring at the same time or to describe something in the past. It is formed dropping the -re of the infinitive and adding -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano. In English there are lots of ways to translate the Italian Imperfetto, for example using the expression used to, the past progressive, or the simple past.
In order to conjugate regular verbs in the Imperfetto, you need to take the root of the main verb and add the
different endings of –are, –ere, –ire conjugations.
As you will notice, verbs simply keep the vowel that is before
the -r and add -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano.
Let’s see them in detail, taking as an example the verbs cantare (to sing), leggere (to read) and dormire (to sleep).
Cantare – to sing
Io cantavo
Tu cantavi
Lui / Lei cantava
Noi cantavamo
Voi cantavate
Loro cantavano
Example:
Quando aveva 12 anni, mia mamma cantava nel coro della chiesa. When she was 12, my mom used to sing in the church choir.
Leggere – to read
Io leggevo
Tu leggevi
Lui / Lei leggeva
Noi leggevamo
Voi leggevate
Loro leggevano
Example:
Mentre leggevo, ho sentito suonare il campanello.While I was reading, I heard the bell ring. Â
Dormire – to sleep
Io dormivo
Tu dormivi
Lui / Lei dormiva
Noi dormivamo
Voi dormivate
Loro dormivano
Example:
Dormiva così profondamente che mi dispiaceva svegliarlo.He was sleeping so soundly that I felt bad waking him up.  Â
Italian imperfetto –
Irregular verbs
Here are five common verbs following an irregular conjugation: fare (to do), bere (to drink), dire (to say) essere (to
be) and also tradurre (to
translate).
Fare – to do
Io facevo
Tu facevi
Lui / Lei faceva
Noi facevamo
Voi facevate
Loro facevano
Example:
Che facevano quando siete rientrati a casa?What were they doing when you came back home?
Bere – to drink
Io bevevo
Tu bevevi
Lui / Lei beveva
Noi bevevamo
Voi bevevate
Loro bevevano
Example:
Quando frequentavo l’università , bevevo ogni sera con gli amici. When I was in college, I used to drink every night with my friends.
Dire – to say
Io dicevo
Tu dicevi
Lui / Lei diceva
Noi dicevamo
Voi dicevate
Loro dicevano
Example:
Non mi piaceva affatto quello che dicevano.I didn’t like at all what they were saying.
Essere – to be
Io ero
Tu eri
Lui / Lei era
Noi eravamo
Voi eravate
Loro erano
Example:
Era davvero stanca di vederlo triste. She was really sick of seeing him sad.
Tradurre –
to translate
Io traducevo
Tu traducevi
Lui / Lei traduceva
Noi traducevamo
Voi traducevate
Loro traducevano
Example:
In vacanza lui parlava sempre in italiano e io traducevo in inglese.
On vacation he used to speak in Italian and I translated into English.
When to use Italian
Imperfetto
Here below are some of the most common situations where Italian
Imperfetto is generally employed.
Habits in the past
When you want to speak about habits and repeated actions in the
past you need to use Italian Imperfetto.
Examples:
Quando erano fidanzati si vedevano ogni giorno a pranzo e a cena.When they were engaged, they used to meet for lunch and dinner every day.Â
Quando Jamie era piccolo giocava a calcio con i ragazzi del quartiere.When Jamie was young, he used to play football with the neighbourhood boys. Â
In inverno io e i miei parenti andavamo sempre a sciare a Saint Moritz. In winter my relatives and I always used to go skiing in St.Moritz.
As you may have noticed, one of the several ways of translating
Italian Imperfetto into English when
talking about habits and repeated actions in the past is by resorting to the
expression used to.
Description of people,
places and situations in the past
When you want to give a description of people, places and
situations in the past you must use Italian Imperfetto.
Examples:
Il nonno di Adele era davvero una persona buona e gentile.Adele’s grandfather was such a good and kind man. Â
Nella città di Katherine c’erano solo un cinema e una birreria per divertirsi.In Katherine’s town there was only a cinema and a brewery where to have fun. Era una situazione strana che non riuscivo per niente a comprendere. It was a weird situation that I wasn’t able to understand at all.
Description of the weather in the past
Use the Italian Imperfetto when talking about the weather in
the past.
Examples:
Ieri c’era il sole, oggi invece piove. Yesterday it was sunny, today it rains instead. Faceva caldo quando ci siamo messi in viaggio per Sorrento. It was hot while we were heading to Sorrento. Â
Grandinava forte quel giorno e non si poteva uscire di casa.That day it was hailing heavily and we didn’t manage to leave home.Â
Description of feelings in
the past
Furthermore, when your intention is to describe a physical or
psychological state in the past, you need the Italian Imperfetto.
Examples:
Aveva un mal di testa terribile che le impediva di stare in piedi.She had a terrible headache that made her incapable of standing. Si sentiva davvero stanco dopo un’intensa giornata di lavoro. Â
He felt really tired after an exhausting working day.I bambini aspettavano con impazienza il ritorno dei loro genitori.Kids were waiting impatiently for their parents to get home.Â
With some verbs
You need to use the Italian Imperfetto when saying what people
knew, thought or meant in the past, but not anymore.
We use Imperfetto when referring to actions which happened at
the same time in the past.
If the two actions have the same exact length, we use the
Italian Imperfetto for both the events.
Examples:
Mentre passeggiavo, ascoltavo la musica.While I was walking, I was listening to music.Â
Mentre cenavo, guardavo la TV.While I was having dinner, I was watching TV.
Parallel actions with a
different length
If an action is shorter than the other, you are required to use the Italian Imperfetto for the ongoing event and the Passato Prossimo for the action that “interrupts†the other.
Examples:
Ragazze, ma cosa è successo esattamente mentre eravamo via?Girls, what exactly happened while we were away? Â
Cucinavamo quando abbiamo sentito uno strano rumore We were cooking when we heard a strange noise.
As you can see, in English you need to apply the past
continuous tense to translate sentences built with mentre + Imperfetto properly.
Surroundings and
Backgrounds
In this situation, the Italian Imperfetto is mostly applied in storytelling and narration, even in
literature to set or describe a scene.
Examples:
Quella sera tutti giocavano a carte e si divertivano molto. Everybody was playing cards and having a lot of fun. Intanto il sole sorgeva e gli uccellini cinguettavano sugli alberi.Meanwhile, the sun rose and birds were chirping on the trees. Â
Pensava a quello che gli era stato detto ed era sempre più paranoico.He was thinking about what they told him and he was getting more and more paranoid.    Â
Time expressions with Italian Imperfetto
Sometimes, it can be quite hard to know in which cases you need
to apply Italian Imperfetto. For
this reason, you can look for some indicators, like the following time
expressions:
da piccolo/giovane (when I was a child/ young)
sempre (always)
tutti i giorni / ogni giorno (every day)
mentre (while)
often (spesso)
continuamente (continually)
a volte (sometimes)
normalmente (normally)
solitamente (usually)
ogni volta che (every time that)
ogni tanto (once in a while)
Examples:
Da piccola, Gaia trascorreva le vacanze estive con i suoi nonni.When she was a child, Gaia used to spend summer holidays with her grandparents. Ogni volta che le mentiva si sentiva in colpa.Every time he was lying to her he felt guilty.Â
Marika si allenava tutti i giorni, poi ha smesso.Marika used to exercise every day, then she stopped.
Imperfetto ipotetico
On specific occasions, especially in the spoken language,
Italian Imperfetto is widely used in
place of other tenses to make daily conversations shorter and faster.
In the case of imperfetto
ipotetico (hypothetical imperfect), it replaces the
past tense of Condizionale to
indicate unreal conditions or events that would have happened in the past.
Look at the following examples, focusing on the differences
between the informal version using imperfetto, and the formal version using the
Conditional and
the Congiuntivo.
Examples
Imperfetto attenuativo
The Italian Imperfetto
attenuativo (mitigating imperfect)
is primarily employed with verbs like volere (to
want) , desiderare (to wish) and preferire (to prefer) to
express a polite request in place of the present
conditional.
At the end of this article, you should be able to say in
Italian which are your past habits or what you used to do when you were a
child.
You can easily recognize the Italian Imperfetto by the final
endings -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate,
-vano.
You saw all the various situations where Imperfetto is required and also time expressions applied along with this tense.
Concerning irregular verbs, you are suggested to learn their conjugation by heart. When you are unsure about the conjugation, check verb conjugators online such as Il Coniugatore, or Scuola Elettrica.
https://learnitaliango.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Learn-Italian-GO_Featured-image.jpg500740Lucia Aiellohttps://learnitaliango.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/LIG-logo-full-color.svgLucia Aiello2021-05-22 12:00:582026-02-23 03:08:20Italian Imperfetto – The tense of storytelling
Same as for che cosa, it can only be
followed by a verb.
Examples:
Non mi hai detto cosa ti piacerebbe fare nel tuo giorno libero. You haven’t told me what you would like to do on your day off.
Cosa vuoi mangiare a cena? Spaghetti o crocchette di pollo? What do you want to eat for dinner? Spaghetti or chicken nuggets?
Cosa dovrei organizzare? Una festa o un pranzo tra amici? What should I organise? A party or a lunch with close friends?
Che
Che is the other shortened form of che cosa. It’s clearly more colloquial and widely spread in cities
of central and southern Italy like Rome, Napoli and Palermo. Unlike cosa and che cosa, che can be followed by both verbs or nouns.
Examples:
Che ingredienti ti servono per preparare la pastiera napoletana? What ingredients do you need to bake Neapolitan pastiera?
Ma che sta dicendo? Non capisco mai niente quando parla! What is she saying? I never understand anything when she talks!
Che stai cercando? Senti, qui non c’è niente! What are you looking for? Look, there’s nothing here!
Quale
Quale
basically stands for which in English, even if what is
equally valid. You are required to use it in front of singular nouns.
Examples:
Quale giacca indosserai stasera? Quella elegante o casual? What / Which jacket are you going to wear this evening? The elegant or casual one?
Di quale argomento ci vorrebbe parlare? What / Which topic would you like to speak about?
Non so quale reazione potrebbe avere se venisse a saperlo. I don’t know what / which reaction she could have if she found it out!
Quali
On the contrary, quali must be employed when you are referring to plural nouns.
Examples:
Quali attività sono previste oggi? What / Which activities are planned today?
Quali maglioni potrei comprare a prezzo scontato? What / which sweaters could I buy at a discounted price?
Allora quali sono i tuoi progetti per il futuro? So, what / which are your plans for the future?
Qual
è
Quale loses the final ending –e and lacks of apostrophe when followed by the third person
singular of essere in the present tense of indicative mood.
Examples:
Qual è il numero di cellulare di Jacob? What’s Jacob’s mobile number?
Qual è l’indirizzo di casa di Chiara e Melinda? What is Chiara and Melinda’s home address?
Qual è il tuo romanzo preferito? What is your favourite novel?
Quello
che / ciò che
While quello che is more common in the spoken language, ciò che is definitively more polished
and largely employed in the written language.
Examples:
Prendete quello che volete! Non fate complimenti! Take what you want! Don’t stand on ceremony!
Quello che mi sorprende è la sua totale mancanza di empatia. What surprises me is her total lack of empathy.
Fa’ ciò che ritieni più giusto per te. Non ti giudicherò. Do what you think is best for you. I won’t judge you.
La cosa che
Literally “the thing that”, la cosa che has the same meaning of quello che and ciò che. Also this statement is principally applied in everyday
language.
Examples:
La cosa che odio di più nella vita è la slealtà. What I hate most in life is disloyalty.
Fare sport è la cosa che amo di più. Playing sports is what I love the most.
La cosa che mi ha fatto innamorare di te è stato il tuo sguardo. What made me fall in love with you was your smile.
Come?
When you don’t understand what someone
is saying, you can utilize Scusa? (Excuse me?) when talking to friends or
relatives, while Scusi? (Excuse me?) or Come, scusi? (Sorry, what?)
when referring to strangers. Come
usually means how, but it’s employed
in this situation as well.
Examples:
Vuoi che ce ne andiamo? – Scusa? Do you want us to leave? – What?
Signore, a che ora parte il treno per Milano? – Scusi? Sir, what time does the train to Milan leave? – Excuse me?
Signora Rossi, ha bisogno di una mano con la spesa? – Come, scusi? Do you need any help with your groceries, Mrs Rossi? – Sorry, what?
What
in Italian – Main uses
So, we introduced the main translations of what in Italian. Now, let’s take a closer look.
The first option belongs to the
category of the so-called interrogatives.
These ones, used in a sentence to introduce a question, can be
adjectives in case they are followed by a noun, or pronouns when they replace a
noun instead.
What as an Interrogative Adjective
When it is followed by a noun, what in
Italian acts as an interrogative adjective. In this case, you can just employ che or quale / quali. According to their use, che is mainly applied when making reference to
something general without
specification, while quale relates
to limited options.
Examples:
Che materie ti piacevano quando andavi a scuola? What subjects did you like when you used to go to school?
Che libri leggi di solito quando sei in vacanza? What books do you usually read when you are on holiday?
Secondo te, quali pantaloni devo comprare? Quelli blu o rossi? In your opinion, which pants should I buy? Blue or red ones?
As you may have noticed, in the first
and second sentence reference wasn’t made to the type of books reading on
holiday. On the contrary, in the third statement there has been mention of the
features (specifically the colour) of pants to be bought.
What
as an Interrogative Pronoun
In presence of a verb, what in Italian
is classified as an interrogative pronoun. In this case, it translates all the
expressions we have encountered so far.
Examples:
Che cosa vuoi da me? Non ho fatto niente! What do you want from me? I haven’t done anything!
Ma che ti è venuto in mente? Sei davvero folle, lo sai? What were you thinking? You are truly insane, you know that?
Ecco delle arance e delle pere. Quali preferisci? Here are some oranges and pears. Which ones do you prefer?
What with prepositions
In case of sentences built with phrasal
verbs, prepositions must be put before what in Italian, not at the end of
the statement as in English.
Look at the following examples,
focusing on the differences between Italian and English:
Italian
English
Con cosa giocano bambini?
What are the kids playing with?
A cosa ti riferisci?
What are you referring to?
Di cosa vorresti parlare?
What would you like to talk about?
What
in Italian – Everyday expressions
Differently from the other solutions
mentioned before, che occurs in lots
of informal statements in Italian. Since these ones are widely used in the
spoken language, they are considered as idioms.
Then let’s have a look at these
everyday questions:
Italian
English
Che succede?
What’s going on?
Che vuoi fare?
What do you want to do?
Che mi racconti?
What’s up?
Che ci fai qui?
What are you doing here?
Che ne pensi?
What do you think about it?
If you want to learn even more effectively, do it through music, listening to songs like this:
Now that you have all the tools to use what in your daily conversations, first try to practice and then tell your Italian friends che cosa hai imparato!
https://learnitaliango.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Learn-Italian-GO-1.jpg500740Alfonso Di Sommahttps://learnitaliango.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/LIG-logo-full-color.svgAlfonso Di Somma2021-05-15 12:00:052026-02-20 05:47:23How do you say what in Italian?
