Explore the imperfect tense of irregular Italian verbs like fare (facevo), essere (ero), and dire (dicevo), focusing on their unique root changes and conjugations essential for describing past habits and states.
- Most irregular verbs, such as "fare", "dire", are partially irregular: they change the stem, but the conjugation remains regular.
- The verb essere is completely irregular: both the root and the conjugation change.
| 1a coniugazione: verbo fare | 2a coniugazione: verbo essere | 3a coniugazione: verbo dire |
|---|---|---|
| Io facevo (I was doing) | Io ero (I was) | Io dicevo (I was saying) |
| Tu facevi (You were doing) | Tu eri (You were) | Tu dicevi (You said) |
| Lui / lei faceva (He / she was doing) | Lui / lei era (He / she was) | Lui / lei diceva (He / she was saying) |
| Noi facevamo (We were doing) | Noi eravamo (We were) | Noi dicevamo (We said) |
| Voi facevate (You (plural) used to do) | Voi eravate (You were) | Voi dicevate (You were saying) |
| Loro facevano (They were doing) | Loro erano (They were) | Loro dicevano (They said) |
Exercise 1: L'imperfetto: i verbi irregolari
Instruction: Fill in the correct word.
eravamo, facevate, ero, facevi, diceva, facevo, dicevano, era
1.
Dire:
Ieri sera, lui ... sempre la verità durante il telegiornale.
(Last night, he was always telling the truth during the news broadcast.)
2.
Dire:
Loro ... cose interessanti sulla radio locale ieri.
(They were saying interesting things about the local radio yesterday.)
3.
Fare:
Quando ero piccolo, ... spesso sport con gli amici.
(When I was little, I often did sports with my friends.)
4.
Essere:
Noi ... molto felici dopo aver sentito le notizie.
(We were very happy after hearing the news.)
5.
Essere:
Io ... contento di guardare la televisione da bambino.
(I was happy to watch television as a child.)
6.
Fare:
Tu ... il compito mentre guardavi la televisione.
(You were doing the homework while watching television.)
7.
Essere:
Lei ... sempre molto curiosa di sapere cosa accadeva.
(She was always very curious to know what was happening.)
8.
Fare:
Voi ... domande durante il programma radiofonico.
(You used to ask questions during the radio programme.)
Exercise 2: Multiple Choice
Instruction: Choose the correct sentence in the imperfect tense from the given options. Beware of common mistakes in the use of the imperfect, such as incorrect forms of regular and irregular verbs and wrong conjugations. The sentences refer to everyday situations and are useful for talking about past events, descriptions, and habits.
1.
Spelling mistake: the correct word is 'televisione', not 'televisoni'.
The coherent subject (I) is missing; 'guardava' is third person singular, while for 'Last night I...' you use 'guardavo'.
2.
Spelling mistake: 'amichi' should be 'amici'.
Incorrect form: 'amiciato' does not exist; it should be 'amici'.
3.
Incorrect form with nonexistent suffix 'riunioniato'.
Number error: 'riunione' is singular while the plural 'riunioni' was intended.
4.
Error in the plural of 'day'; the correct form is 'days'.
Number error: 'client' is singular while it should be plural 'clients'.
