confrontavano

Confrontavano is the third-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb confrontare. It expresses a past action that was ongoing or repeated and can translate as “they confronted” or “they compared,” depending on the context.

Confrontare is a regular -are verb. In the imperfect tense, its endings are -avo, -avi, -ava, -avamo, -avate, -avano. Therefore, confrontavano is formed from the stem confront- plus the ending -avano. The verb is used mainly to indicate putting things side by side to examine similarities and differences, or to face and challenge an issue or opinion in a comparative sense.

Usage and nuance: The primary sense of confrontare is to compare or juxtapose data, statements, or viewpoints, as in “confrontavano i dati” (they compared the data). It can also convey a sense of facing or challenging a person or situation, though for direct interpersonal confrontation Italian often uses affermare, affrontare, or confrontarsi in reflexive forms. The imperfect form confrontavano emphasizes that the comparison or confrontation occurred over a period in the past or was habitual.

Etymology and related forms: Confrontare derives from con- (together) and fron/ front- (face), ultimately from Latin roots related to face-to-face. The noun confronto means “comparison” or “face-off” depending on context. The past participle is confrontato, and related forms include confrontante (present participle) and confrontato, confrontando in different tenses.

Examples:

- Durante il rapporto mensile, confrontavano le vendite di quest’anno con quelle dell’anno precedente.

- I due testimoni confrontavano le loro versioni dei fatti.