Imperfect of “potere”, “volere”, “dovere”: Italian grammar lesson 106

Summary

Dive into the heart of Italian with this guide! Learn how potere, volere, and dovere can unlock different shades of desire, ability, and obligation in the past with the imperfetto tense. 🇮🇹✨

  • Expressing Wishes: Get nostalgic with volere in the imperfetto and talk about all those past desires and dreams. Perfect for reminiscing about that Italian summer love! 💭🍕
  • Possibilities of the Past: Use potere to revisit what could have been. It’s like a time machine for all the coulda, woulda, shouldas in your life. 🕒🔙
  • Necessities Back Then: With dovere, you can reflect on past responsibilities and duties. It’s like telling your younger self, “You had one job!” 📚👈
  • Conjugation is Key: Master the imperfetto forms of these verbs to sound like a true Italian. It’s not just about the spaghetti, folks. 🍝📖
  • Setting the Scene: Paint a vivid picture of the past with the imperfetto tense. It’s like being the director of your own Italian film. 🎬🎨
  • Describing Habits: Chat about your old habits effortlessly. Whether it was sipping espresso daily or missing the bus every morning, the imperfetto has got you covered. ☕🚌
  • Continued Actions: Ever wonder how to say “I was doing” in Italian? The imperfetto tense is your go-to for all those long, drawn-out stories. 📚🕰️

My thoughts

What does potere, volere and dovere express in Italian?

There are some verbs that are special in Italian because they can be followed by other verbs.

This is the case of volere (to want to), potere (can or to be able to), and dovere (to have to).

These verbs respectively express a wish, a possibility, or a necessity.

Here are some examples:

Vogliamo mangiare la pizza.

We want to eat pizza.

Possiamo venire con voi?

Can we come with you?

Dovete andare a casa.

You have to go home.

We can use these verbs in the present, past, and future tenses.

In today’s lesson, we’re going to learn about the imperfetto of volere, potere and sapere: volevo, potevo, sapevo.

Imperfetto of volere potere dovere

What is the imperfect tense?

The imperfetto is a tense that we use to talk about the past.

For instance, we use it to describe the way people, objects, or places were in the past, like in the example below.

La piazza prima era molto piccola.

Before, the square was very small.

We also use it to describe situations and factual conditions or to describe states of mind or health in the past.

Laura non stava molto bene ieri.

Laura wasn’t very well yesterday.

We can also use it to describe what used to happen, such as habits and repeated actions in the past.

Noi andavamo sempre in Messico d’estate.

We would always go to Mexico in the summer.

Finally, we use the imperfetto to express a continued and prolonged action that happened in the past.

Cosa dicevi ieri su mio fratello?

What were you saying yesterday about my brother?

Imperfetto of potere

How to conjugate volere in imperfetto?

Let’s have a look at the conjugation of volere in the imperfetto:

Italian Translation
Io volevo I wanted
Tu volevi You wanted
Lui/Lei voleva He/She wanted
Noi volevamo We wanted
Voi volevate You wanted
Loro volevano They wanted
Free Guide
How to Learn Languages Fast

And here are some sentences:

La scorsa estate io volevo andare al mare.

Last summer, I wanted to go to the beach.

Cosa volevi dirmi ieri?

What did you want to tell me yesterday?

Imperfetto of dovere volere potere

How to conjugate potere in imperfetto?

Now let’s have a look at the conjugation of potere in the imperfetto:

Italian Translation
Io potevo I could
Tu potevi You could
Lui/Lei poteva He/She could
Noi potevamo We could
Voi potevate You could
Loro potevano They could

And here we have some examples:

Da piccoli, non potevamo uscire con i nostri amici.

When we were little, we couldn’t go out with our friends.

L’anno scorso potevo lavorare da casa.

Last year, I could work from home.

Imperfetto of volere Italian

How to conjugate dovere in imperfetto?

At last, but not least, here’s the conjugation of the verb dovere in the imperfetto:

Italian Translation
Io dovevo I had to
Tu dovevi You had to
Lui/Lei doveva He/She had to
Noi dovevamo We had to
Voi dovevate You had to
Loro dovevano They had to

And here’re some examples:

Cosa dovevate dirci ieri?

What did you have to tell us yesterday?

Angelo doveva pulire la casa e non l’ha fatto.

Angelo had to clean the house, but he didn’t do it.

Imperfetto of dovere

What is the imperfect?

Is the tense we used to talk about the past. It can be to describe the way someone or something was; to describe situations or factual conditions; to describe habits; and to express prolonged actions.

What does volere mean?

"Volere" is an Italian verb that means "to want" or "to wish."

What does potere mean?

"Potere" is an Italian verb that means "can" or "to be able to."

What does dovere mean?

"Dovere" is an Italian verb that means "must," "to have to," or "should." It's a modal verb that is used to express obligation, necessity, or duty.

Italian word of the day
bottiglie
Example
Colleziono bottiglie. Non sai proprio cosa fare, eh?
I collect bottles. You just don’t know what to do, huh?
Follow me to fluency​

Create a free lifetime account to get access to all the free courses and other resources.

Leave a Reply

Take a free lesson today!

Create a free lifetime account to get access to all the free lessons and other resources.

I’ll also deliver my free resources my best offers to your mailbox (opt out at any time).

What is mi sa che in Italian? Like other informal expressions, mi sa che doesn’t have exact equivalents in other languages. In fact, there is no literal translation for this...
What is the passive voice? In this post, we’re going to focus on how to form the passive voice with the verb andare. Have a look at the two examples...
What does secondo me mean in Italian? When you want to express your own opinion and thoughts or convey those of others, in English, you can use the expression: in...
What are if clauses? You might be wondering what we’re talking about. Well, an if clause is a phrase that indicates a condition and is usually followed by a phrase that...
Try my courses for free​
Stefano

Log in

Reset password or get in touch.

Not a member yet? Join today!

How long to fluency?

Find out how long it will take you to master Italian!
Get on the right track in 3 minutes.

dolce vita logo

We're already friends!

Coming from Luca and Marina?
Here's a special deal for you!
Just tell me where I should send the coupon.

50% OFF
all language resources

We're already friends!

Coming from All Language Resources?
Here's a special deal for you!
Just tell me where I should send the coupon.

50% OFF
GRAB A COUPON NOW, REDEEM IT LATER
50% OFF

To receive free resources once a week together with my best offers, just tell me where to send everything. Opt out at any time.

Create a free lifetime account to get access to all the free lesson and other resources.