The imperfetto expresses the idea of an action in the past that was ongoing.

The imperfetto can be translated into English with:

Suonavo il piano.

I used to play the piano.

I would play the piano... (meaning: "I used to play the piano.")

I was playing the piano... (the imperfect sets the scene, when something else happened)

I was playing the piano. (ongoing in the past, with no mention of starting or stopping)

Here's a comparison with the other past tense we have studied, the passato prossimo.

L'imperfetto: Leggevo un buon libro. - I was reading a good book.

Il passato prossimo: Ho letto un buon libro. - I read a good book. (or) I have read a good book.

L'imperfetto: Cantavamo ogni sera. - We used to sing every evening.

Il passato prossimo: Abbiamo cantato ieri sera. - We sang last night.

Imperfetto answers the question:

• What was going on?
• What did you used to do?

Passato prossimo answers the question:

• What happened?

Sometimes the difference is very distinct. Sometimes changing the tense makes a slight change in emphasis in the sentence.

Distinct. Each of these examples would require the appropriate tense:

Faceva bel tempo. It was nice weather. (imperfetto)

Pioveva quando Giovanni è arrivato. It was raining (imperfetto) when Giovanni arrived (passato prossimo).

È piovuto per dieci minuti. It rained (passato prossimo) for ten minutes.

Interchangeable. With this example, you could use either tense:

Avevo un appuntamento con Claudio. (imperfetto to emphasize the situation)

Ho avuto un appuntamento con Claudio. (passato prossimo to emphasize the action)

-Adverbs. We practiced the two-way translation "Alla Stazione". (side one)

già

fa

appena

adesso, ora

in orario

in anticipo

in ritardo

-Inviting someone to go out. I want you to memorize these words which will be useful when you are inviting someone to do something with you. (click here)