Cessai

Cessai is the Italian verb form corresponding to “I ceased” in the passato remoto, the remote past tense, of the verb cessare, meaning to cease or to stop. It is used primarily in formal, literary, or historical writing rather than in everyday speech.

Conjugation: cessare is a regular -are verb, so the passato remoto forms are: io cessai, tu cessasti, lui cessò, noi cessammo, voi cessaste, loro cessarono. The form cessai is the first-person singular.

Usage: Cessare can be followed by di + infinitive to indicate stopping an action, as in “Io cessai di fumare” (I ceased to smoke) or “cessarono di parlare” (they ceased to speak). In prose, cessai often appears in narrative sections to convey a completed action in the distant past.

Modern Italian tends to avoid the passato remoto in everyday speech; speakers usually use the passato prossimo: “ho cessato” (I have ceased) or “ho cessato di fumare.” The passato remoto remains common in historical chronicles, poetry, and some literary styles.

Origin: cessare derives from Latin cessare, with the same meaning, indicating a cessation or interruption.

See also: cessazione, cessare.