Learn how to use the imperfetto tense with regular verbs from all three conjugations, like informare (to inform), avere (to have), and reagire (to react), to describe past, habitual, or descriptive actions in Italian.
- The imperfect is used to describe the past, talk about a period of life, or habitual actions.
| 1a coniugazione: Verbo informare | 2a coniugazione: Verbo avere | 3a coniugazione: Verbo reagire |
|---|---|---|
| Io informavo (I was informing) | Io avevo (I had) | Io reagivo (I was reacting) |
| Tu informavi (You informed) | Tu avevi (You had) | Tu reagivi (You were reacting) |
| Lui / lei informava (He / she was informing) | Lui / lei aveva (He / she had) | Lui / lei reagiva (He / she was reacting) |
| Noi informavamo (We informed) | Noi avevamo (We had) | Noi reagivamo (We were reacting) |
| Voi informavate (You informed) | Voi avevate (You had) | Voi reagivate (You were reacting) |
| Loro informavano (They were informing) | Loro avevano (They had) | Loro reagivano (They were reacting) |
Exercise 1: L'imperfetto: i verbi regolari
Instruction: Fill in the correct word.
reagivamo, informavo, informava, avevo, avevano, reagivo, reagivi
1.
Informare:
Io spesso ... i miei amici sulle novità TV.
(I often informed my friends about TV news.)
2.
Avere:
Io ... il giornale ieri.
(I had the newspaper yesterday.)
3.
Reagire:
Durante il programma, tu ... con molto interesse.
(During the programme, you reacted with great interest.)
4.
Informare:
Lui ... gli spettatori sui fatti importanti.
(He informed the viewers about important events.)
5.
Reagire:
Noi ... con sorpresa alle situazioni difficili.
(We used to react with surprise to difficult situations.)
6.
Informare:
Ieri mentre ascoltavo il telegiornale, ... mia madre.
(Yesterday while I was listening to the news, I was informing my mother.)
7.
Avere:
Loro ... le notizie migliori.
(They had the best news.)
8.
Reagire:
Quando guardavo la televisione, io ... sempre alle notizie.
(When I was watching television, I always used to react to the news.)
Exercise 2: Multiple Choice
Instruction: Choose the correct sentence that uses the imperfect tense appropriately to describe past, habitual, or descriptive actions.
1.
The imperfect tense is not used to talk about future actions; 'tomorrow' requires a future tense.
The action 'yesterday I was playing' is correct only if the action was ongoing; however, the present perfect is often used for completed actions. Here, there is a lack of clarity between the tenses used.
2.
The use of the past historic 'listened' with 'while I was talking' creates an inappropriate temporal contrast.
The adverb 'yesterday' creates redundancy with the imperfect; it is preferable to avoid it in this sentence.
3.
Error in verb tense usage: 'have' and 'had' do not combine together.
The imperfect tense 'had' is not used with specific time expressions like 'yesterday evening' without appropriate context.
4.
The adverb 'today' is not used with the imperfect, which indicates a past action.
Agreement error: 'important' should be 'important' in plural because it refers to 'details' plural.
