diCEvate

Dicevate is the second-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb dire, meaning "you all were saying" or "you all used to say." As part of the imperfect, it describes past actions or states that were ongoing, habitual, or repeated, rather than a single completed event. The form is used in narrative, dialogue, and reported speech where the speaker refers to statements made by a group.

Etymology and morphology: dire is an irregular verb in the present tense, but its imperfect forms follow a regular pattern for -ere verbs, with the stem dice- combined with the standard imperfect endings: -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano. Thus the full imperfect conjugation for dire includes dicevo, dicevi, diceva, dicevamo, dicevate, dicevano. The stress in dicevate falls on the penultimate syllable, di-CE-va-te.

Usage notes: Dicevate is commonly used to recount what a group would say over a period in the past, often to set up a contrast with other events or to convey a habitual attitude. It can appear in direct speech or in descriptive narration. In indirect speech, it is more typical to shift to the imperfect form of the reporting verb rather than retaining dicevate.

Examples: You all used to say that the plan would work. Voi dicevate che il piano avrebbe funzionato. Dicevate spesso di voler partire, ma rimanevate. You all said you often wanted to leave, but you stayed.

See also: Italian verbs, Imperfect tense, dire.