gettavate

Gettavate is the second-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb gettare, which means to throw or to cast. It is used to describe past actions that were ongoing, habitual, or repeated when addressing more than one person.

Etymology and usage: The verb gettare comes from the Latin jactare, itself from iacio “to throw.” In the imperfect tense, the ending -avate indicates the voi form, signaling you all were throwing or used to throw in the past, without specifying a completed result. This form contrasts with the passato prossimo, which would express a completed past action.

Conjugation and related forms: For the imperfect of gettare, the full paradigm for voi is gettavate. Other imperfect forms are io gettavo, tu gettavi, lui/lei gettava, noi gettavamo, loro gettavano. The past participle is gettato, the present participle is gettando, and the infinitive is gettare. The form gettavate appears in contexts describing habitual past actions or descriptions in narrative memory.

Examples:

- Quando eravate ragazzi, gettavate sassi nel fiume e ridevate.

- Durante la pulizia, voi gettavate vecchi giornali nel cestino, come facevate spesso in passato.

Usage notes: Gettare and its synonyms vary by region, with some dialects preferring buttare in colloquial speech. The imperfect form gettavate is appropriate for narrative descriptions in literature or everyday speech when referring to a group’s continuous or repeated past actions.