Page 30 - verbo italiano

20 / Webster’s New World 575+ Italian Verbs

Present Perfect with avere Present Perfect with essere
(io) ho lavorato/ricevuto/dormito sono arrivato/arrivata
(tu) hai lavorato/ricevuto/dormito sei arrivato/arrivata
(lui/lei) ha lavorato/ricevuto/dormito è arrivato/arrivata
(noi) abbiamo lavorato/ricevuto/dormito siamo arrivati/arrivate
(voi) avete lavorato/avorato/dormito siete arrivati/arrivate
(loro) hanno lavorato/ricevuto/dormito sono arrivati/arrivate

IMPERFECT

The imperfect is a past simple tense. It expresses continuous, repeated, habitual
actions, situations, or events in the past. It describes what was going on at a cer-
tain time and what used to happen. The imperfect focuses on a past action con-
sidered in its length and in its progress. It expresses an unfinished past action or
a past action whose coordinates (start, end . . .) are not specified. The imperfect is
the ideal tense for describing people, places, events, weather and time in the past.
The imperfect is not a tense in English and therefore has several English equiva-
lents. It is commonly translated as:
• “used to . . . ,” as in “We used to eat breakfast at 9,”
• “would . . .,” as in “I would take long walks on the beach,”
• “was + ing,” “were + ing,” as in “while he was eating . . . ,”
• or simple past—for example “We played soccer when we were younger.”

In the use of indicative past tenses in Italian, there is a contrast between the imper-
fect on one hand and the passato prossimo (present perfect), on the other. The
imperfect is used to:
• Express habitual or repeated action in the past. The English equivalent
is “used to.” Time expressions like sempre (“always”), spesso (“often”), di
solito (“usually”), generalmente (“generally”), and tutti i giorni (“every day”)
indicate the use of imperfect.
Giocavamo a calcio tutti i lunedì. We used to play soccer on Mondays.
Andavano spesso al mare. They would often go to the ocean.
• Describe a person, place, thing, or state of mind in the past.
Da piccola avevo i capelli biondi. When I was a child, I had blonde hair.
La casa era grande e c’era anche The house was big and there was a
un bel giardino. nice garden as well.
• Describe what was going on when something else happened. The
“interrupted” action takes the imperfect; the other action takes the present
perfect. Mentre (“while”) is immediately followed by the imperfect.
Mentre facevo colazione, è andata While I was having breakfast,
via la luce. the lights went out.
• Express two or more actions occurring simultaneously in the past.
Quando studiavo all’Università When I was studying at the university,
Lavoravo come cameriera. I used to work as a waitress.