mangiare imperfect tense conjugation
Mangiare (to eat) in the imperfect tense: mangiavo, mangiavi, mangiava, mangiavamo, mangiavate, mangiavano.
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).
Mangiare is regular here, so it is a good model for other verbs of the same class.
Mangiare in a sentence
- Mangio la pasta ogni domenica.I eat pasta every Sunday.
- Ho mangiato troppo a pranzo.I ate too much at lunch.
Drop the 'i' before -i endings: mangi, mangerò (future).
FAQ
What is the imperfect tense of mangiare?
Mangiare in the Italian imperfect tense: io mangiavo, tu mangiavi, lui/lei mangiava, noi mangiavamo, voi mangiavate, loro mangiavano.
Is mangiare irregular in the imperfect tense?
No. In the imperfect tense mangiare takes the regular endings for its verb class, so mangiavo 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 mangiare conjugation, all tenses →
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