This tense describes the past. It does not focus on a single, completed event. Instead, it describes ongoing situations, repeated habits, or background details in the past. Think of it as setting a scene, talking about how things "used to be", or what "was happening".
Use this tense to talk about repeated or habitual actions in the past. These are actions that someone "used to do" or "would do" regularly.
Da bambino,
giocavo sempre in giardino.
(As a child, I always used to play in the garden.)
Ogni estate,
andavamo al mare.
(Every summer, we would go to the sea.)
Mio nonno mi
raccontava una storia
tutte le sere.
(My grandfather used to tell me a story every evening.)
A Roma,
prendevano l'autobus
ogni giorno.
(In Rome, they took the bus every day.)
Di solito non
guardavo la televisione.
(Usually I didn't use to watch television.)
Use it for descriptions in the past. This includes describing people, places, the weather, or how someone was feeling. It paints a picture of the past.
La sua casa
era grande e
aveva un bel giardino.
(Her house was big and had a beautiful garden.)
Quel giorno
faceva molto caldo e il cielo
era azzurro.
(That day it was very hot and the sky was blue.)
Ieri
ero molto stanco e
avevo sonno.
(Yesterday I was very tired and I was sleepy.)
Maria
portava un vestito rosso.
(Maria was wearing a red dress.)
In piazza
c'erano molte persone.
(There were many people in the square.)
Use it for an ongoing action in the past that was in progress. It is the equivalent of "was" or "were" with an "-ing" verb in English.
Mentre io
cucinavo, tu
parlavi al telefono.
(While I was cooking, you were talking on the phone.)
Cosa
facevi ieri alle tre?
(What were you doing yesterday at three o'clock?)
Loro non
dormivano,
studiavano.
(They weren't sleeping, they were studying.)
Use this tense to describe a background action that was happening when another, shorter action occurred.
Mentre leggevo, è suonato il telefono.
(While I was reading, the phone rang.)
Passeggiavo nel parco
quando ho incontrato Anna.
(I was walking in the park when I met Anna.)
Loro
parlavano quando è iniziato il film.
(They were talking when the movie started.)
Use it to state age or tell time in the past.
Nel 1990, mio padre
aveva trent'anni.
(In 1990, my father was thirty years old.)
Erano le dieci di sera.
(It was ten o'clock at night.)
Remember, this tense describes the background or the ongoing nature of the past. It is not used for single, completed actions that happened and finished at a specific moment. It describes the scene, not the main event.
