Estendevo

Estendevo is the first-person singular imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb estendere, meaning I was extending or I used to extend. The verb estendere generally conveys the idea of stretching, spreading, or reaching out something, whether a physical object, a territory, or a concept. The imperfect form estendevo is used to describe ongoing or habitual actions in the past, or to set the scene in narrative past tense.

Etymology and usage notes: estendere derives from Latin extendere, composed of ex- (out) and tendere (to stretch). In Italian, estendere is transitive and commonly takes a direct object, as in estendere la mano (to extend the hand) or estendere una rete (to lay out a net). The imperfect estendevo conveys a repeated or prolonged action in the past, for example: Io estendevo la mano per aiutare chi era in difficoltà.

Conjugation pattern: estendere follows the regular -ere verb pattern in the imperfect: io estendevo, tu estendevi, lui/lei estendeva, noi estendevamo, voi estendevate, loro estendevano. The past participle is esteso, used with auxiliary avere to form compound tenses (ho esteso).

Examples:

- Io estendevo la mano per aiutarlo ad alzarsi.

- La riga di luce estendeva il suo bagliore lungo l’orizzonte.

See also: stendere, stendersi. While estendere is used transitively to indicate extending or spreading something, stendersi is the intransitive counterpart meaning to lie down or to stretch out.