chiacchieravate

Chiacchieravate is the second-person plural imperfect tense of the Italian verb chiacchierare, meaning to chat, to converse informally, often with a sense of gossip depending on context. The imperfect tense expresses ongoing or habitual action in the past, or a background setting in narrative.

As a regular -are verb, chiacchierare follows the standard imperfect endings: -avo, -avi, -ava, -avamo, -avate, -avano. Therefore, voi chiacchieravate translates to “you all were chatting” or “you all used to chat.” Other forms include io chiacchieravo, tu chiacchieravi, lui/lei chiacchierava, noi chiacchieravamo, loro chiacchieravano.

Usage is common in storytelling to describe scenes or repeated past behavior, and in dialogue to depict past conversations, often with adverbs such as spesso or tutti i giorni to indicate frequency. Etymology: chiacchierare derives from chiacchiera meaning chatter; the exact origin is not conclusively documented, but the word is well established in Italian.

See also: chiacchierata (a chat or gossip session), chiacchiere (chatter or gossip), chiacchierone (gossipmonger or chatterbox).