spiegare imperfect tense conjugation
Spiegare (to explain) in the imperfect tense: spiegavo, spiegavi, spiegava, spiegavamo, spiegavate, spiegavano.
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).
Spiegare is regular here, so it is a good model for other verbs of the same class.
Spiegare in a sentence
- Spiego la grammatica ai miei studenti.I explain grammar to my students.
- Il professore ha spiegato bene la lezione.The teacher explained the lesson well.
Structure: spiegare qualcosa a qualcuno.
FAQ
What is the imperfect tense of spiegare?
Spiegare in the Italian imperfect tense: io spiegavo, tu spiegavi, lui/lei spiegava, noi spiegavamo, voi spiegavate, loro spiegavano.
Is spiegare irregular in the imperfect tense?
No. In the imperfect tense spiegare takes the regular endings for its verb class, so spiegavo 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 spiegare conjugation, all tenses →
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