camminava

Camminava is the third-person singular imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb camminare, meaning to walk or to go on foot. It can also appear in the formal second-person (Lei) as a past-tense form, though more commonly it denotes “he was walking” or “she was walking.”

Conjugation and forms

Camminare is a regular -are verb, and in the imperfect tense its endings are -avo, -avi, -ava, -avamo, -avate, -avano. Therefore, the forms include io camminavo, tu camminavi, lui/lei camminava, noi camminavamo, voi camminavate, loro camminavano. Camminava specifically represents the he/she/you (formal) was walking in the past.

Usage

The imperfect tense conveys ongoing or habitual actions in the past, or provides background or descriptive information. Examples: “Lui camminava lentamente lungo il fiume” (He was walking slowly along the river) and “Quando era giovane, camminava molto.” For emphasis on an action in progress at a specific moment, Italian often prefers the periphrastic stasis with stare plus gerund, as in “stava camminando.”

Related forms and related words

The verb camminare gives rise to related nouns such as cammino (path, way), camminata (a walk or stroll), and camminatore (walker). The imperfect form camminava shares its root with the infinitive camminare, which in turn denotes the act of walking or moving by foot.

See also

Camminare, Italian verb conjugation, Italian imperfect tense.