Italian Imperfetto: Forms, Uses and When to Use It

🔍 In short. The italian imperfetto is the past tense for what was happening, not what happened once. Its endings are almost completely regular (-vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano: parlavo, credevo, dormivo) with only four real irregulars (ero, facevo, dicevo, bevevo). You use it for habits (da bambino giocavo), descriptions and background (era una bella giornata, faceva freddo), ongoing actions interrupted by another, and for age, time and weather in the past. This A2 guide gives the forms, the four uses, and the imperfetto-versus-passato-prossimo line.

The italian imperfetto is the friendliest past tense to form, almost no irregulars, and the trickiest to place, because English collapses several of its jobs into a plain “did” or “was doing”. Get the four uses straight and most past-tense storytelling falls into place. The single mental move that makes it all click is this: stop asking “is this past?” and start asking “is this the background or the event?”. A film scene makes it concrete, the lighting, the weather, what people were wearing and doing is all italian imperfetto; the one thing that then happens, the door slamming, the phone ringing, is passato prossimo. Every rule below is just that question applied to a different situation.

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What the imperfetto really is

The italian imperfetto is the past seen from the inside. It describes an action while it was unfolding, with no attention to where it started or stopped: pioveva (“it was raining”) tells you the rain was going on, not when it began or ended. Italian grammar calls this the imperfective aspect, and it is the key to the whole tense.

A useful image: with the italian imperfetto you are swimming inside the lake, the edges out of focus; with the passato prossimo you are flying over the lake and can see exactly where it begins and ends. Same past, two perspectives, and that single idea explains every use below.

The endings: -vo, -vi, -va

The italian imperfetto has one set of endings for all three conjugations, added to the stem: -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano.

• parlare → parlavo, parlavi, parlava, parlavamo, parlavate, parlavano
• credere → credevo, credevi, credeva, credevamo, credevate, credevano
• dormire → dormivo, dormivi, dormiva, dormivamo, dormivate, dormivano

That is the whole system. Take the infinitive, drop -re, keep the theme vowel (a/e/i), add the endings. The italian imperfetto is by far the most regular tense in the whole language.

The only four irregulars

Almost nothing is irregular in the italian imperfetto. Four high-frequency verbs change the stem, and they are worth memorising on their own.

• essere → ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate, erano
• fare → facevo, facevi, faceva, facevamo, facevate, facevano
• dire → dicevo, dicevi, diceva, dicevamo, dicevate, dicevano
• bere → bevevo, bevevi, beveva, bevevamo, bevevate, bevevano

Use 1: habits in the past

The first job of the italian imperfetto is the repeated past: things you used to do, the English “used to” or “would”.

• Da bambino giocavo a pallone ogni pomeriggio.
  As a child I used to play football every afternoon.
• Quando vivevamo a Lucca, andavamo al mare ogni estate.
  When we lived in Lucca, we went to the sea every summer.
• La nonna cucinava sempre la domenica.
  Grandma always cooked on Sundays.

Time words like sempre, ogni, di solito, tutti i giorni, da bambino are a strong signal for the italian imperfetto: a repeated, unbounded habit, not one event.

Use 2: description and background

The second job of the italian imperfetto is painting the scene: how things and people were, the backdrop of a story.

• Era una bella giornata, faceva caldo e non c’era vento.
  It was a lovely day, it was hot and there was no wind.
• Lorenzo era alto, magro e portava gli occhiali.
  Lorenzo was tall, thin and wore glasses.
• La casa aveva un grande giardino e sapeva di legno.
  The house had a big garden and smelled of wood.

Description is pure background, no events move forward, so it is the italian imperfetto: era, aveva, faceva, c’era, portava. This is why story openings (“Once upon a time there was…”) are always imperfetto.

Use 3: interrupted ongoing action

The third job: an action that was already going on when something else happened. The ongoing part is the italian imperfetto; the interruption is the passato prossimo.

• Mentre leggevo, è suonato il telefono.
  While I was reading, the phone rang.
• Dormivamo quando è arrivato il temporale.
  We were sleeping when the storm arrived.
• Mentre Caterina studiava, Lorenzo preparava la cena.
  While Caterina was studying, Lorenzo was making dinner. (two parallel backgrounds)

Mentre (“while”) almost always takes the italian imperfetto. Two simultaneous ongoing actions are both imperfetto; a single short interruption inside a longer scene is passato prossimo.

Use 4: age, time, weather

The fourth job groups the “states” of the past: how old, what time, what weather, how you felt.

• Avevo dieci anni quando ho cambiato scuola.
  I was ten when I changed school.
• Erano le otto e pioveva forte.
  It was eight o’clock and it was raining hard.
• Ero stanco e avevo fame.
  I was tired and hungry.

Age (avevo dieci anni), clock time (erano le otto), weather (pioveva, faceva freddo) and feelings in the past are all states, so they are the italian imperfetto, even inside a sentence whose main event is passato prossimo.

Imperfetto vs passato prossimo

This is the line every learner needs. The italian imperfetto is the background and the duration; the passato prossimo is the single, completed event that moves the story forward.

• Ieri è stata una bella giornata, ma faceva freddo.
  Yesterday was a lovely day (finished event), but it was cold (background state).
• Leggevo (I was reading, ongoing) versus ho letto il libro (I read the book, done).
• Mentre tornavo a casa, ho incontrato Elena.
  While I was coming home (background), I met Elena (event).

Rule of thumb: if you could add “every day” or “for a while”, it is the italian imperfetto; if it is one finished thing that happened, it is passato prossimo. There is a dedicated guide on this contrast, linked at the end.

Mental verbs: sapevo or ho saputo?

A classic trap. With verbs like sapere, conoscere, volere, potere, dovere, the italian imperfetto is the state and the passato prossimo is the moment it changed.

• Sapevo che eri a Modena. = I knew (state) you were in Modena.
  Ho saputo che eri a Modena. = I found out (moment) you were in Modena.
• Conoscevo Elena = I knew Elena. / Ho conosciuto Elena = I met Elena (first time).
• Volevo partire = I wanted to leave. / Ho voluto partire = I decided (and did) leave.

So with these verbs the italian imperfetto is “I was in that state”, the passato prossimo is “the state began / I acted”. Same verb, very different meaning. A quick test that almost always works: translate into English and see which fits, “I knew / I could / I wanted” (a continuing state, italian imperfetto) or “I found out / I managed / I decided” (a turning point, passato prossimo). Non potevo dormire is “I couldn’t sleep” (the whole night, a state); non sono riuscito a dormire is “I didn’t manage to sleep” (the attempt failed, an outcome). Keeping that English pair in mind stops most of the errors learners make with these five verbs.

The polite imperfetto: volevo

One last everyday use: the italian imperfetto softens a request. Volevo instead of voglio makes you sound polite, not past.

• Volevo un’informazione, per favore.
  I’d like some information, please. (softer than “voglio”)
• Buongiorno, cercavo il signor Bianchi.
  Good morning, I was looking for Mr Bianchi. (polite)

This “polite imperfetto” is everywhere in shops and offices. Volevo, cercavo, pensavo, dicevo are not really past here; the italian imperfetto just takes the edge off the request.

No spelling tricks here

A relief after the present tense: the italian imperfetto has no spelling adjustments. Verbs that change letters in the present (cercare → cerchi, mangiare → mangi) behave perfectly regularly here, because the ending always starts with -v-.

• cercare → cercavo, cercavi, cercava (no h: not “cerchavo”)
• mangiare → mangiavo, mangiavi (the i stays, no contraction)
• studiare → studiavo · cominciare → cominciavo · pagare → pagavo

So forget the -care/-gare/-ciare/-giare headaches of the present: in the italian imperfetto you simply take the stem and add -vo, -vi, -va. One more reason it is the easiest tense to build, and a good one to over-practise early, because its regularity frees your attention for the genuinely hard part, which is choosing when to use it rather than how to form it.

Two extra uses: playful and colloquial

Beyond the four core jobs, the italian imperfetto has two everyday extras worth recognising.

• Playful (children’s games): Facciamo che io ero il re e tu eri il drago.
  Let’s pretend I was the king and you were the dragon. (setting up a game)
• Colloquial hypothetical: Se lo sapevo, non venivo.
  If I’d known, I wouldn’t have come. (very common in speech instead of se l’avessi saputo, non sarei venuto)

The playful imperfetto opens almost every Italian child’s game. The colloquial hypothetical is informal: Italians say se lo sapevo non venivo constantly, but in writing and exams use the full subjunctive-plus-conditional. Recognise the spoken italian imperfetto, produce the standard form.

Common mistakes English speakers make

• Using the passato prossimo for a habit: not ogni estate siamo andati but ogni estate andavamo.
• Using the imperfetto for a single finished event: not ieri scrivevo una mail but ieri ho scritto una mail.
• Age and time with the wrong tense: it is avevo dieci anni, erano le otto, never the passato prossimo.
• Making essere regular: it is ero, eri, era, not “essevo”.
• Translating “I knew” always as ho saputo: a known state is sapevo.

Dialog: a grandmother remembers Lucca

Caterina asks her grandmother what life was like in Lucca decades ago. Listen for the italian imperfetto in every description and habit.

The whole memory is italian imperfetto for the scene (era, c’erano, lavoravo, avevo, pioveva) and one passato prossimo for the event that changed everything (ho conosciuto). That is the shape of almost every real story an Italian tells you: a long imperfetto backdrop, then the single passato prossimo that the whole anecdote is actually about. Train your ear on that rhythm, paragraphs of era / faceva / andavamo punctuated by one sharp è successo, and you will both understand native storytelling and produce it correctly yourself.

Cheat sheet: forms and uses

One table for the italian imperfetto. Keep it open while you do the quiz.

Mini-challenge

Test your understanding

The quiz below drills the italian imperfetto: the endings, the four irregulars, the four uses and the line with the passato prossimo. Take it after the cheat sheet.

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Frequently asked questions

Seven questions about the italian imperfetto come up in every A2 class. The answers below draw on classroom usage and on the Treccani entry imperfetto.

Related guides

Three guides next to the italian imperfetto in the past-tense cluster, plus the institutional reference.

• Italian Passato Prossimo vs Imperfetto: the contrast in depth, with decision rules.
• Italian Passato Prossimo: forms, auxiliary and agreement of the other main past.
• Italian Narrative Imperfect: the C1 use where newspapers say “moriva nel 1980”.
• Treccani: imperfetto: institutional reference.