incontravo

Incontravo is the first-person singular imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb incontrare, meaning to meet. It is used to describe habitual or ongoing actions in the past, such as repeated meetings or encounters that formed part of the background of a narrative. It is usually contrasted with the passato prossimo form ho incontrato (or the simple passato remoto incontrai in literary usage), which expresses a specific, completed meeting at a definite moment.

Usage and nuance:

The imperfect conveys that the act of meeting happened repeatedly or was ongoing over a period of time. It does not mark a single, completed event. For a one-time encounter, Italian typically uses the present perfect: ho incontrato, or the simple past in literary registers: incontrai.

Conjugation and example:

In the imperfect tense, incontrare is a regular -are verb. The full imperfect conjugation is: io incontravo, tu incontravi, lui/lei incontrava, noi incontravamo, voi incontravate, loro incontravano. Example: Quando ero bambino, io incontravo spesso i vicini al mercato. Translation: When I was a child, I used to meet the neighbors at the market.

Related forms:

The verb can combine with reflexive forms to express mutual encounters (incontrarsi) and with prepositions to indicate the context of a meeting (incontrare qualcuno per caso, incontrare un ostacolo). As a root, it is part of standard Italian verb conjugation and is distinct from nouns or proper names.

See also:

Incontrare; incontrarsi; passato prossimo; imperfetto.