agivano

Agivano is the Italian imperfect indicative form of the verb agire, used with third-person plural subjects. The verb agire means to act or to perform an action, and its forms descend from the Latin verb agere.

Etymology and form

Agire comes from Latin agere. In Italian, the imperfect tense is used to describe past actions that were ongoing, habitual, or simultaneous with another past event. The imperfect forms for agire are regular for -ire verbs, resulting in: io agivo, tu agivi, lui/lei agiva, noi agivamo, voi agivate, loro agivano. Therefore, agivano specifically marks they were acting or they acted in the past.

Usage

The form agivano appears in narrative or descriptive contexts to indicate ongoing or repeated actions by multiple subjects in the past. It can convey background actions, routines, or parallel actions within a past timeline. Examples include literary narration or historical descriptions where the past actions of a group are being described.

Example

Quando erano giovani, i ragazzi agivano spesso senza porsi domande. This sentence illustrates habitual past action by a plural subject.

Notes

Agivano is the standard imperfect form for a regular -ire verb in Italian. Other verbs in the same conjugation pattern share the same imperfect endings: -ivo, -ivi, -iva, -ivamo, -ivate, -ivano. The imperfect contrasts with the present tense and the passato prossimo, which expresses completed past actions.

See also

Agire, Italian verb conjugation, Imperfect tense.