capire imperfect tense conjugation

Capire (to understand) in the imperfect tense: capivo, capivi, capiva, capivamo, capivate, capivano.

Imperfetto Imperfect

Imperfetto of capire
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).

Capire is regular here, so it is a good model for other verbs of the same class.

Capire in a sentence

  • Capisco l'italiano abbastanza bene.I understand Italian quite well.
  • Ho capito la lezione di oggi.I understood today's lesson.

-isc- verb: capisco, capisci, capisce, capiamo, capite, capiscono.

FAQ

What is the imperfect tense of capire?

Capire in the Italian imperfect tense: io capivo, tu capivi, lui/lei capiva, noi capivamo, voi capivate, loro capivano.

Is capire irregular in the imperfect tense?

No. In the imperfect tense capire takes the regular endings for its verb class, so capivo 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 capire conjugation, all tenses →
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