Irregular verbs in the imperfect tense

Reminder: the imperfect is used to talk about actions in an unspecified point in the past or to describe things, people and situations in the past. 

Alla festa le ragazze indossavano dei vestiti eleganti. indossare, imperfetto

At the party the girls were wearing elegant dresses.

C’era molto caldo in spiaggia. essere, imperfetto

It was very hot on the beach.

Some verbs are irregular in the imperfect tense, the most common of which are:

Essere
Io ero
Tu eri
Lui/lei era
Noi eravamo
Voi eravate
Loro erano
Bere
Io bevevo
Tu bevevi
Lui/lei beveva
Noi bevevamo
Voi bevevate
Loro bevevano
Fare
Io facevo
Tu facevi
Lui/lei faceva
Noi facevamo
Voi facevate
Loro facevano
Dire
Io dicevo
Tu dicevi
Lui/lei diceva
Noi dicevamo
Voi dicevate
Loro dicevano

Il Dottor Mancini faceva sempre sorrisi strani. fare, imperfetto

Dr. Manici always smiled strangely (literally “always made strange smiles”).

Toni era il più alto della classe. essere, imperfetto

Toni was the tallest in his class.



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