evitavo

Evitavo is the first-person singular imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb evitare, meaning to avoid. It is used to express a past habit or a past action in which the subject used to avoid something or someone.

Origin and forms

The verb evitare is of Latin origin, historically used to convey the sense of shunning or sidestepping. In the imperfect tense, evitavo follows the regular -are verb pattern: evitavo, evitavi, evitava, evitavamo, evitavate, evitavano. The past participle is evitato, used with auxiliary avere to form compound tenses (ho evitato, avevo evitato).

Usage

Evitavo is commonly employed to describe routines, habits, or general tendencies in the past. It can also appear in narrative to set a scene about avoided actions or circumstances. When followed by an infinitive, the construction evita di + infinito expresses the act of avoiding doing something. For example, "Ero stanco e evitavo di parlare" means "I was tired and I avoided talking," while "Evitavo di mangiare zuccheri" means "I used to avoid eating sweets."

Examples

- Quando eravamo bambini, evitavo di attraversare quel parco di notte. (As children, I used to avoid crossing that park at night.)

- Evitavo di mentire per non ferire gli altri. (I used to avoid lying in order not to hurt others.)

See also

Related forms include evitare (the infinitive), evito (present indicative), and evitaro’s other tenses like eviterò (future). The form evitato is the past participle used in compound tenses.