cambiare imperfect tense conjugation
Cambiare (to change) in the imperfect tense: cambiavo, cambiavi, cambiava, cambiavamo, cambiavate, cambiavano.
Imperfetto Imperfect
| io | |
|---|---|
| tu | |
| lui/lei | |
| noi | |
| voi | |
| loro |
ending regular · irr breaks the pattern · tap a form to hear it
When to use the imperfect tense
The imperfetto describes the past as background: habits (“used to”), ongoing actions and descriptions: “Da bambino giocavo a calcio.”
How it is formed
Regular endings: -are → avo, avi, ava, avamo, avate, avano; -ere → evo…; -ire → ivo…. Essere is irregular (ero, eri, era…); fare, dire and bere use their old stems (facevo, dicevo, bevevo).
Cambiare is regular here, so it is a good model for other verbs of the same class.
Cambiare in a sentence
- Cambio idea spesso.I change my mind often.
- Il tempo è cambiato all'improvviso.The weather changed suddenly.
Essere when intransitive (il tempo è cambiato), avere when transitive (ho cambiato casa).
FAQ
What is the imperfect tense of cambiare?
Cambiare in the Italian imperfect tense: io cambiavo, tu cambiavi, lui/lei cambiava, noi cambiavamo, voi cambiavate, loro cambiavano.
Is cambiare irregular in the imperfect tense?
No. In the imperfect tense cambiare takes the regular endings for its verb class, so cambiavo follows the same pattern as any regular verb.
When do you use the Italian imperfect tense?
The imperfetto describes the past as background: habits (“used to”), ongoing actions and descriptions: “Da bambino giocavo a calcio.”
How is the imperfect tense formed?
Regular endings: -are → avo, avi, ava, avamo, avate, avano; -ere → evo…; -ire → ivo…. Essere is irregular (ero, eri, era…); fare, dire and bere use their old stems (facevo, dicevo, bevevo).
Full cambiare conjugation, all tenses →
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