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The Imperfetto by Ronald Glenn Wrigley, M.A.

The imperfetto (imperfect) is used to express a habitual or ongoing action in the past. Here are some examples of the imperfect tense in English:

I used to go to the movies on Saturday evenings.

My brother was watching television while I was talking on the phone.

In both instances, the action is clearly happening in the past. However, the action in both sentences is incomplete (or imperfect); we know that the action described used to happen, or was happening, but we don't know when the actions were brought to an end. Following are the conjugations of -are, -ere, and -ire verbs in the imperfetto:

<tgroup cols="3"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="30%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="35%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="35%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <thead> <tr> <td><p>parlare</p></td> <td><p>vedere</p></td> <td><p>dormire</p></td> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>io parlavo</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>vedevo</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>dormivo</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>tu parlavi</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>vedevi</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>dormivi</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>lui/lei/Lei parlava</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>vedeva</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>dormiva</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>noi parlavamo</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>vedevamo</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>dormivamo</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>voi parlavate</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>vedevate</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>dormivate</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>loro/Loro parlavano</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>vedevano</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>dormivano</emphasis></p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <h2>Exercise 11: From Present to Imperfetto</h2> <div class="npmo"> <img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/np/italian-practice/track.jpg"> <div class="npcp"><p>TRACK 50</p></div> </div> <p>Listen to Track 50. Repeat each sentence, then listen again, writing down each sentence you hear. Finally, rewrite the sentences, changing from the present tense to the <emphasis>imperfetto.</emphasis></p> <ul> <li><p></p> <p></p></li> <li><p></p> <p></p></li> <li><p></p> <p></p></li> <li><p></p> <p></p></li> <li><p></p> <p></p></li> <li><p></p> <p></p></li> <li><p></p> <p></p></li> <li><p></p> <p></p></li> <li><p></p> <p></p></li> </ul> <h2>Exercise 12: Conjugating the Imperfetto</h2> <p>Conjugate each verb in the <emphasis>imperfetto</emphasis>.</p> <p><emphasis>andare</emphasis> (to go):</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><emphasis>ricevere</emphasis> (to receive):</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><emphasis>costruire</emphasis> (to build):</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <h2>Exercise 13: Translating Exercise with the Imperfetto</h2> <p>Translate the sentences into Italian using the <emphasis>imperfetto</emphasis>.</p> <ul> <li><p>I was speaking with your friends.</p> <p></p> <p></p></li> <li><p>You used to play baseball with your grandfather.</p> <p></p> <p></p></li> <li><p>He was sleeping while his boss was speaking.</p> <p></p> <p></p></li> <li><p>When I was ten years old, I used to drink a lot of orange soda.</p> <p></p> <p></p></li> <li><p>He was not telling a lie.</p> <p></p> <p></p></li> <li><p>They were beautiful.</p> <p></p> <p></p></li> <li><p>While I was reading the newspaper, my wife was talking with her brother.</p> <p></p> <p></p></li> <li><p>I used to go shopping on Saturdays.</p> <p></p> <p></p></li> </ul> <!--/gc--> <div id="pagination"><ul><li class="prev"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/the-passato-prossimo-and-the-imperfetto/the-passato-prossimo-with-object-pronouns.htm" title="The Passato Prossimo with Object Pronouns">The Passato Prossimo with Object Pronouns</a></li><li class="next"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/the-passato-prossimo-and-the-imperfetto/comparison-of-passato-prossimo-and-imperfetto.htm" title="Comparison of Passato Prossimo and Imperfetto">Comparison of Passato Prossimo and 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