Custodivamo

Custodivamo is an Italian verb form that functions as the first-person plural imperfect indicative of custodire, meaning "to guard," "to protect," or "to keep in custody." As an imperfect form, it expresses ongoing or habitual past action rather than a completed past event.

Etymology and morphology: Custodire comes from the Latin custodire, derived from custus (guard). The imperfect tense in Italian is formed by taking the present stem custod- and inserting the -iv- before the standard imperfect endings, yielding custodivo, custodivi, custodiva, custodivamo, custodivate, custodivano. Thus custodivamo literally conveys “we were guarding” or “we used to guard.”

Usage: Custodivamo is used to describe past activities that were continuous, repeated, or customary in the past. It can appear in narrative prose, descriptive passages, or explanations of past routines. It is not a single point past; it situates actions within an ongoing timeframe.

Examples:

- Durante la notte, custodivamo i documenti sensibili nel caveau. (During the night, we were guarding the sensitive documents in the vault.)

- Da giovani custodivamo le chiavi del laboratorio e controllavamo ogni ingresso. (As youths, we used to guard the laboratory keys and check every entrance.)

Related forms include custodivo, custodivi, custodiva, custodivamo, custodivate, custodivano for the imperfect, and custodiamo for the present. The form is standard and widely understood in normal Italian usage.