The forms of essere
Most verbs build the imperfetto with a fixed pattern. Essere (to be) has its own forms built on the stem er-, so learn them as a set.
essere in the imperfetto
| Person | essere | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | ero | I was |
| tu | eri | you were |
| lui/lei | era | he/she was |
| noi | eravamo | we were |
| voi | eravate | you (all) were |
| loro | erano | they were |
Person and form
Erano is stressed on the first syllable (È-rano); eravamo and eravate are stressed on the next-to-last syllable (era-VÀ-mo). None of the forms has a written accent.
The forms in a sentence
Ero molto felice.
I was very happy.
Dov'eri ieri sera?
Where were you last night?
Eravamo tutti molto stanchi.
We were all very tired.
What is it used for?
Descriptions and states
What someone or something was like, how you felt, what the day was like.
La festa era bellissima.
The party was wonderful.
Era una bella giornata.
It was a beautiful day.
Time of day
For the time, essere agrees with the number: era l'una (one is singular), but erano le otto (eight is plural).
Era l'una.
It was one o'clock.
Erano le otto.
It was eight o'clock.
C'era / c'erano: there was, there were
C'è and ci sono become c'era and c'erano. The form agrees with what follows.
C'era un gatto in giardino.
There was a cat in the garden.
C'erano molti turisti.
There were a lot of tourists.
