Ciao! Today’s video is about the past “Imperfetto”, one of the most important Italian tenses in the past.
Before you go ahead, make sure you’ve watched my overview of the past tenses in Italian:
—————————- SUMMARY OF THE LESSON ————————–
In Italian, you have three main tenses to talk about something that happened in the past:
1. Remoto
2. Prossimo
3. Imperfetto
In today’s video, I’ll focus on the third one (“Imperfetto”), but I’ll cover the remaining tenses in future lessons so make you subscribe.
1. Conjugation of REGULAR VERBS (0:33)
Let’s start with the conjugation of regular verbs in the past “imperfetto”:
Verbs in “ARE”: Mangiare (to eat)
io mangiavo / tu mangiavi / lui-lei mangiava/ noi mangiavamo / voi mangiavate / loro mangiavano
Verbs in “ERE”: Leggere (to read)
io leggevo / tu leggevi / lui-lei leggeva / noi leggevamo / voi leggevate / loro leggevano
Verbs in “IRE”: Dormire (to sleep)
io dormivo / tu dormivi / lui/lei dormiva / noi dormivamo / voi dormivate / loro dormivano
2. Conjugation of IRREGULAR VERBS (2:53)
Generally, the conjugation of the past “imperfetto” is regular but there are some exceptions. The most common ones are the following:
Verb ESSERE (to be): io ero/ tu eri / lui-lei era / noi eravamo / voi eravate / loro erano
Verb FARE (to do): io facevo / tu facevi / lui-lei faceva / noi facevamo / voi facevate / loro facevano
Verb DIRE (to say): io dicevo / tu dicevi / lui-lei diceva / noi dicevamo / voi dicevate / loro dicevano
Verb BERE (to drink): io bevevo / tu bevevi / lui-lei beveva / noi bevevamo / voi bevevate / loro bevevano
3. USES & REAL-LIFE EXAMPLES (5:19)
You can use the past “imperfetto” in the following situations:
– (5:26) To talk about a past habit or a continuous action in the past but without specifying the time it started or finished. For example, “io bevevo 3 caffè al giorno” (I used to have 3 coffees a day)
– (6:54) To talk about two actions happening simultaneously in the past using the word “mentre” (while). For example, “io leggevo mentre tu guardavi la TV” (I was reading while you were watching the TV)
– (8:39) When an action in progress in the past is interrupted by another action that also happened in the past. For example, “mentre (io) camminavo, ho incontrato tuo fratello” (while I was walking, I met your brother)
– (11:42) Still to talk about an interrupted action but using a different structure, with the word “quando” instead of “mentre”. For example, “camminavo, quando ho incontrato tuo fratello” (while I was walking, I met your brother)
– (13:14) To describe people, things, or situations in the past. For example, “ieri era una bella giornata” (yesterday it was a beautiful day) / “il ristorante aveva un bel terrazzo” (the restaurant had a nice terrace)
– (15:41)To tell a story or a fairy tale. For example, “c’era una volta una principessa” (once upon a time, there was a princess)
Watch the video for a more detailed explanation and additional examples.
Hope you liked the video and if you haven’t already, please hit the like button and SUBSCRIBE to my channel 😊 Thanks so much for watching and I’ll see you soon in the next lesson, a presto!
———————— OTHER USEFUL LESSONS —————————————-
1. “What TIME is it?” in Italian (Practice how to ask & tell the time) –
2. LINKING WORDS in Italian (E, MA, PERCHE’, OPPURE, …) –
3. C’È, CE & CI SONO: Italian Expressions Explained –
4. A Story in Italian (The legend of the Mistletoe) –
5. PERSONAL PRONOUNS in Italian (Subject/Object): IO, ME, MI, TU, TE, TI, NOI, CI, VOI, VI, etc –
6. The Italian WEATHER (Basic Words and Expressions) –
7. Adverbs of TIME in Italian (Today, Tomorrow, Before, Now, Later, Always, Never, …) –
8. 17 ITALIAN Words to DESCRIBE People –
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