Discussing Past Events in Italian - Exercises

Practice using the imperfetto

Lesson Transcript

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

Mio fratello (pause with a tap of the finger) molto sport da ragazzo.

faceva

Mio fratello faceva molto sport da ragazzo.

"My brother used to do a lot of sports as a boy."

We use faceva because it's the third person singular of fare in the imperfetto, describing a repeated past activity.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

Quando (pause with a tap of the finger) a scuola, portavo sempre il panino da casa.

andavo

Quando andavo a scuola, portavo sempre il panino da casa.

"When I used to go to school, I always brought a sandwich from home."

We use andavo, the first person singular of andare, to show a past routine.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

Da bambino, non (pause with a tap of the finger) le verdure.

mangiavo

Da bambino, non mangiavo le verdure.

"As a child, I didn't used to eat vegetables."

We use mangiavo, the first person singular of mangiare, to express a habitual dislike.

Unscramble the words to make a sentence.

Ready?

Quando

Quando ero

Quando ero piccolo

Quando ero piccolo giocavo

Quando ero piccolo giocavo con

Quando ero piccolo giocavo con le

Quando ero piccolo giocavo con le macchine.

"When I was little, I used to play with toy cars."

Quando ero piccolo giocavo con le macchine.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

Da ragazza, (guardava or guardavo) molti film stranieri.

guardavo

Da ragazza, guardavo molti film stranieri.

"As a girl, I used to watch a lot of foreign films."

Guardavo is used here because it matches the first-person singular subject implied by da ragazza — "as a girl" referring to the speaker herself.

We use the -avo ending to indicate "I used to" in the imperfetto tense.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

I miei nonni (vivevano or vivevamo) in campagna.

vivevano

I miei nonni vivevano in campagna.

"My grandparents used to live in the countryside."

Vivevano is correct because the subject i miei nonni — "my grandparents" — is third-person plural.

The -vano ending in the imperfetto tense agrees with "they", showing a repeated or habitual action in the past.

Let's translate some sentences into Italian.

Translate "When I was ten, I used to ride my bike every day." into Italian.

Quando, meaning "when,"

followed by

avevo, the imperfect tense of avere, meaning "I used to have" or simply "I was (age),"

dieci anni, meaning "ten years old,"

followed by

andavo, the imperfect form of andare, meaning "I used to go,"

and finally

in bici ogni giorno, meaning "by bike every day."

The structure Quando + [imperfect sentence], [imperfect sentence]

is used here because we are describing two background actions or states that were true at the same time in the past.

Both avevo and andavo are in the imperfetto tense, used to talk about age and repeated past actions.

Quando avevo dieci anni, andavo in bici ogni giorno.

"When I was ten, I used to ride my bike every day."

Translate "As a child, I used to help my grandmother in the kitchen." into Italian.

Da bambino, meaning "as a child,"

followed by

aiutavo, the imperfect tense of aiutare, meaning "I used to help,"

mia nonna, meaning "my grandmother,"

and finally

in cucina, meaning "in the kitchen."

The pattern Da + [noun/adjective], [imperfect sentence]

is used here because we're describing someone's status in the past (being a child), followed by a habitual action.

Aiutavo is in the imperfetto tense, used for regular or repeated past actions.

Da bambino, aiutavo mia nonna in cucina.

"As a child, I used to help my grandmother in the kitchen."

Translate "When we were young, we had a dog." into Italian.

Quando, meaning "when,"

followed by

eravamo, the imperfect form of essere, meaning "we were,"

giovani, meaning "young,"

followed by

avevamo, the imperfect tense of avere, meaning "we used to have,"

and finally

un cane, meaning "a dog."

Quando + [imperfect sentence], [imperfect sentence]

is used here because the sentence describes a past time frame and a situation that was ongoing.

Eravamo and avevamo are both in the imperfetto, used for past descriptions and continuous states.

Quando eravamo giovani, avevamo un cane.

"When we were young, we had a dog."

Listen to me as I speak. Which imperfetto verb is used in the sentences?

Da bambino, non mangiavo le verdure.

Let's listen one more time.

Da bambino, non mangiavo le verdure.

Did you hear, mangiavo?

mangiavo, the imperfetto form of mangiare, is used here to describe a repeated action in the past.

How about...?

Quando ero piccolo giocavo con le macchine.

Let's listen one more time.

Quando ero piccolo giocavo con le macchine.

Did you hear, giocavo?

Giocavo is the imperfetto of giocare, used here to express a habitual action during childhood.

Next…

Da ragazza, guardavo molti film stranieri.

One more time.

Da ragazza, guardavo molti film stranieri.

Did you hear, guardavo?

Guardavo is in the imperfetto tense, showing that the speaker regularly watched films in the past.

And...

Quando avevo dieci anni, andavo in bici ogni giorno.

One more time.

Quando avevo dieci anni, andavo in bici ogni giorno.

Did you hear, andavo?

Andavo is the imperfetto form of andare, used to indicate a past routine or ongoing activity.

Thank you for watching.

Now you know how to discuss past events in Italian.

...and now you can move on to the next lesson in the pathway.

A presto!

Comments

Hide