Alcuni verbi all'imperfetto sono irregolari e cambiano nella radice o coniugazione.
(Some verbs in the imperfect are irregular and change in their stem or conjugation.)
- 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: it changes both the stem and the conjugation.
| 1a coniugazione: verbo fare (1st conjugation: verb fare) | 2a coniugazione: verbo essere | 3a coniugazione: verbo dire (3rd conjugation: verb dire) |
|---|---|---|
| Io facevo | Io ero | Io dicevo |
| Tu facevi | Tu eri | Tu dicevi |
| Lui / lei faceva | Lui / lei era | Lui / lei diceva |
| Noi facevamo | Noi eravamo | Noi dicevamo |
| Voi facevate | Voi eravate | Voi dicevate |
| Loro facevano | Loro erano | Loro dicevano |
Exercise 1: Multiple choice
Instruction: Choose the correct answer
1. Ieri sera guardavo il telegiornale e ____ a mia moglie che la situazione era preoccupante.
Last night I was watching the news and ____ my wife that the situation was worrying.2. Da piccolo ____ sempre una chiamata a mia nonna dopo il programma in TV.
As a child I ____ always made a call to my grandmother after the TV show.3. Quando ____ in ufficio, navigavamo su Internet per leggere le notizie.
When we ____ in the office, we were surfing the Internet to read the news.4. Da giovane ____ molto attento ai titoli del giornale, ma i miei amici non lo erano.
As a young man I ____ very attentive to the newspaper headlines, but my friends were not.Exercise 2: Multiple Choice
Instruction: Choose the correct sentence in the imperfect tense.
Exercise 3: Rewrite the phrases
Instruction: Rewrite the sentences in the imperfect tense: change only the verb in parentheses (fare, essere, dire) into the correct form.
-
Da bambino io (essere) molto timido a scuola.⇒ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ExampleDa bambino io ero molto timido a scuola.(As a child, I was very shy at school.)
-
Quando tu (fare) il tirocinio, (fare) spesso tardi in ufficio.⇒ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ExampleQuando tu facevi il tirocinio, facevi spesso tardi in ufficio.(When you were doing your internship, you often stayed late at the office.)
-
Nel 2020 lui (essere) ancora in Italia per lavoro.⇒ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ExampleNel 2020 lui era ancora in Italia per lavoro.(In 2020, he was still in Italy for work.)
-
Prima noi (dire) sempre la verità ai clienti.⇒ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ExamplePrima noi dicevamo sempre la verità ai clienti.(Before, we always told customers the truth.)
Exercise 4: Grammar in action
Instruction: Talk about the news and reconstruct what was happening and what you were saying.
- Qual era il titolo e di cosa parlava il servizio? (What was the headline and what was the report about?)
- Dove eri quando l'hai sentita e cosa facevi in quel momento? (Where were you when you heard it and what were you doing at that moment?)
- Ieri guardavo il telegiornale e il presentatore diceva... (Yesterday I was watching the TV news and the presenter was saying...)
- Ero in ufficio e facevo una chiamata quando ho letto il titolo. (I was in the office and I was making a call when I read the headline.)
- Navigavo su Internet e le notizie dicevano che la situazione era complicata. (I was browsing the Internet and the news said that the situation was complicated.)
- ero/eri/era (I was (singular))
- facevo/facevi/faceva (I was doing (singular))
- dicevo/dicevi/diceva (I was saying (singular))
