Imperfetto Regular Verbs

The imperfetto (imperfect tense) is the second essential Italian past tense. While the passato prossimo describes completed actions, the imperfetto describes ongoing, habitual, or background situations in the past. It paints the scene: what was happening, what things were like, what you used to do.

The great news is that the imperfetto is one of the most regular tenses in Italian — almost all verbs follow the same predictable patterns, with very few exceptions.

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When Do We Use the Imperfetto?

The imperfetto is used for:

• Habitual actions: Da bambino, giocavo a calcio ogni giorno. (As a child, I used to play football every day.)
• Ongoing actions in the past: Mentre leggevo, è arrivato Marco. (While I was reading, Marco arrived.)
• Descriptions: La casa era grande e aveva un giardino bellissimo. (The house was big and had a beautiful garden.)
• Physical/emotional states: Ero stanco e avevo fame. (I was tired and hungry.)
• Weather: Faceva freddo e pioveva. (It was cold and it was raining.)
• Time and age: Erano le tre. Avevo vent'anni. (It was three o'clock. I was twenty.)
• Polite requests: Volevo chiederti una cosa. (I wanted to ask you something.)

Key idea: The imperfetto describes what was happening or what used to happen — without focusing on the beginning or end of the action.

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How to Form the Imperfetto

Remove the -re from the infinitive and add the imperfetto endings. The key is that the characteristic vowel of each conjugation is preserved:

1st Conjugation: -are (characteristic vowel: -a-)

Person	Ending	Example: parlare
io	-avo	parlavo
tu	-avi	parlavi
lui / lei / Lei	-ava	parlava
noi	-avamo	parlavamo
voi	-avate	parlavate
loro	-avano	parlavano

2nd Conjugation: -ere (characteristic vowel: -e-)

Person	Ending	Example: scrivere
io	-evo	scrivevo
tu	-evi	scrivevi
lui / lei / Lei	-eva	scriveva
noi	-evamo	scrivevamo
voi	-evate	scrivevate
loro	-evano	scrivevano

3rd Conjugation: -ire (characteristic vowel: -i-)

Person	Ending	Example: dormire
io	-ivo	dormivo
tu	-ivi	dormivi
lui / lei / Lei	-iva	dormiva
noi	-ivamo	dormivamo
voi	-ivate	dormivate
loro	-ivano	dormivano

Notice the pattern: The endings are almost identical across all three conjugations — only the characteristic vowel changes: -avo / -evo / -ivo, -avi / -evi / -ivi, etc.

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Full Conjugation Tables

Mangiare (to eat)

Person	Conjugation	Translation
io	mangiavo	I was eating / I used to eat
tu	mangiavi	you were eating
lui / lei	mangiava	he/she was eating
noi	mangiavamo	we were eating
voi	mangiavate	you all were eating
loro	mangiavano	they were eating

Leggere (to read)

Person	Conjugation	Translation
io	leggevo	I was reading / I used to read
tu	leggevi	you were reading
lui / lei	leggeva	he/she was reading
noi	leggevamo	we were reading
voi	leggevate	you all were reading
loro	leggevano	they were reading

Capire (to understand)