cominciare imperfect tense conjugation
Cominciare (to begin, start) in the imperfect tense: cominciavo, cominciavi, cominciava, cominciavamo, cominciavate, cominciavano.
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).
Cominciare is regular here, so it is a good model for other verbs of the same class.
Cominciare in a sentence
- Comincio a lavorare alle otto.I start working at eight.
- Il film è cominciato in ritardo.The movie started late.
Drop the 'i' before e/i endings (cominci); intransitive use takes essere, transitive avere.
FAQ
What is the imperfect tense of cominciare?
Cominciare in the Italian imperfect tense: io cominciavo, tu cominciavi, lui/lei cominciava, noi cominciavamo, voi cominciavate, loro cominciavano.
Is cominciare irregular in the imperfect tense?
No. In the imperfect tense cominciare takes the regular endings for its verb class, so cominciavo 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 cominciare conjugation, all tenses →
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