Dormivano

Dormivano is the third-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb dormire, meaning “they slept” or “they were sleeping.” The imperfect tense in Italian describes past actions that were ongoing, habitual, or set as background in narration.

Origin and conjugation: The verb dormire means “to sleep” and comes from Latin dormire. In Italian, dormire is an regular -ire verb in the imperfect. The principal forms are dormivo, dormivi, dormiva, dormivamo, dormivate, dormivano; dormivano is used for the loro (they) subject.

Usage and nuance: The imperfect (imperfetto) expresses actions without indicating their completion, in contrast to the passato prossimo. It describes ongoing actions, repeated habits, or descriptive background in the past, often with conjunctions like mentre or other time references.

Example: Loro dormivano profondamente ogni notte quando la casa era silenziosa. This illustrates how the form conveys an past action in progress or repeated behavior rather than a single completed event.

See also: Italian grammar, dormire, imperfetto, passato prossimo.