Only a few Italian verbs are irregular in the imperfetto: essere (ero), fare (facevo), dire (dicevo), bere (bevevo), and the verbs ending in -orre, -urre and -arre, such as porre (ponevo), tradurre (traducevo) and trarre (traevo). All other verbs, including irregular ones like andare, avere and stare, form the imperfetto regularly.
The Imperfect Tense in Italian
The imperfect tense in Italian, known as imperfetto, is a past tense that is used to talk about past actions that were ongoing or habitual. It is the second most used past tense in Italian, after the passato prossimo.
These two verbs tenses are often confused by Italian language learners, because they can be both translated with the English past simple, even though imperfetto does not always correspond to that.
In fact, the Italian imperfetto has no literal translation in English. However, I always tell my students that it conceptually corresponds to the English used to + verb (I used to ride the bike).
Check the difference between passato prossimo and imperfetto in Italian!
To be precise, imperfetto means “not perfect”, so we use it when we talk about events that happened at some point in the past, without specifying exactly when.
It has two forms: the simple form imperfetto(imperfect) and the compound form trapassato prossimo(past perfect). Here, I will focus on the imperfect only, specifically on iregular verbs.
Learn more about the imperfect of irregular verbs and the past perfect!
Irregular Imperfect in Italian
Conjugation
While forming the regular imperfect in Italian is relatively easy, the irregular imperfect must be learned by heart, as with all irregular verbs.
As you might know already, irregularities of verbs do not affect their endings, but their roots only. This means that once you learned the endings of regular imperfect verbs, you already know those of irregular ones as well.
Let me remind you how it is formed.
First, you have to drop the ending of the infinitive (-are, –ere, –ire), then add the following:
- thematic vowel (-are-> a; –ere-> e; –ire-> i)
- v
- conjugation
When it comes to irregular imperfetto, you must keep these endings, but apply them to the irregular root of the corresponding verb.
Here, I will list you the most common irregular ones:
| Verb | Pronoun & Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Essere (to be) | Io ero |
| Tu eri | |
| Lui/Lei era | |
| Noi eravamo | |
| Voi eravate | |
| Loro erano | |
| Bere (to drink) | Io bevevo |
| Tu bevevi | |
| Lui/Lei beveva | |
| Noi bevevamo | |
| Voi bevevate | |
| Loro bevevano | |
| Dire (to say) | Io dicevo |
| Tu dicevi | |
| Lui/Lei diceva | |
| Noi dicevamo | |
| Voi dicevate | |
| Loro dicevano | |
| Fare (to do/make) | Io facevo |
| Tu facevi | |
| Lui/Lei faceva | |
| Noi facevamo | |
| Voi facevate | |
| Loro facevano | |
| Tradurre (to translate) | Io traducevo |
| Tu traducevi | |
| Lui/Lei traduceva | |
| Noi traducevamo | |
| Voi traducevate | |
| Loro traducevano | |
| Porre (to put/place) | Io ponevo |
| Tu ponevi | |
| Lui/Lei poneva | |
| Noi ponevamo | |
| Voi ponevate | |
| Loro ponevano |
More Irregular Imperfect Verbs
The same pattern works for the other verbs that end in -arre, -urre and -orre, and for the verbs built on dire, fare and porre:
| Verb | io | tu | lui/lei | noi | voi | loro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trarre (to draw, to derive) | traevo | traevi | traeva | traevamo | traevate | traevano |
| Condurre (to lead, to drive) | conducevo | conducevi | conduceva | conducevamo | conducevate | conducevano |
| Produrre (to produce) | producevo | producevi | produceva | producevamo | producevate | producevano |
Other verbs that follow the same pattern:
- Verbs in -arre: attrarre (attraevo), distrarre (distraevo)
- Verbs in -urre: ridurre (riducevo), introdurre (introducevo)
- Verbs in -orre: proporre (proponevo), supporre (supponevo)
- Verbs built on dire and fare: predire (predicevo), soddisfare (soddisfacevo)
Why are These Verbs Irregular?
As you can see, the irregularity of these verbs is given by the fact that their root changes when being conjugated in the imperfect tense. Specifically, these verbs add a syllable in the conjugation.
This has some historical reasons which I love explaining, so get ready for some pills of linguistics.
When Italian evolved from Latin, it changed some words, of course. However, it kept some original Latin roots in some specific conjugation, like imperfetto. In fact, dire in Latin was dicere, fare was facere, tradurre was traducere etc…
Did you notice anything? They all have that extra syllable that we still use now.
If you are interested in the history of the Italian language, I invite you to read more and dive into this world of linguistic evolution.
Essere Is the Odd One Out
Essere is the only truly irregular verb in the imperfetto: ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate, erano do not come from a longer stem. The others (fare, dire, bere, porre, tradurre, trarre) keep the older, longer stem of the verb and then take the normal -ere endings. Bere, for example, comes from the older bevere, which is why we say bevevo and not *berevo. The same goes for facevo (not *farevo) and dicevo (not *direvo).
Verbs That Look Irregular but Are Regular in the Imperfetto
Many verbs that are irregular in the present tense are perfectly regular in the imperfetto. You just drop -re and add the endings, as you would with any regular verb:
| Verb | Present (io) | Imperfetto (io) |
|---|---|---|
| Avere (to have) | ho | avevo |
| Andare (to go) | vado | andavo |
| Stare (to stay, to be) | sto | stavo |
| Dare (to give) | do | davo |
| Venire (to come) | vengo | venivo |
| Potere (can, to be able to) | posso | potevo |
| Volere (to want) | voglio | volevo |
| Sapere (to know) | so | sapevo |
For more on the modal verbs, read the imperfect of potere, volere, dovere and sapere. If you still need the basic pattern, start with the imperfetto of regular verbs.
Examples
Da bambino ero molto magro.
When I was a kid, I used to be very skinny.
In passato bevevo almeno 5 caffè al giorno.
In the past, I used to drink at least 5 coffees a day.
Mia mamma mi diceva sempre: “Guida piano!”
My mom used to tell me: “Drive slowly!”
Ieri faceva freddo.
Yesterday the weather was cold.
C’era una volta una strega cattiva….
Once upon a time, there was an evil witch…
Mentre facevo la doccia, qualcuno ha bussato alla porta.
While I was taking a shower, someone knocked.
When to Use These Verbs in the Imperfetto
Time expressions often point to the imperfetto: da bambino (as a child), sempre (always), di solito (usually), ogni giorno (every day) and mentre (while).
Da piccolo dicevo sempre la verità.
When I was little, I always told the truth.
Di solito bevevamo il caffè al bar.
We usually drank coffee at the café.
Mentre traducevo il testo, è arrivato Marco.
While I was translating the text, Marco arrived.
Quick Practice
Complete each sentence with the imperfetto of the verb in brackets:
- Da bambina, Giulia ____ (bere) solo latte.
- Noi ____ (fare) sempre una passeggiata dopo cena.
- Voi ____ (essere) molto stanchi.
- Prima io ____ (tradurre) tutto a mano.
- I miei nonni ____ (dire) sempre di sì.
Answers: 1. beveva, 2. facevamo, 3. eravate, 4. traducevo, 5. dicevano.
