indicavano

Indicavano is the third-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb indicare, meaning to indicate or to point out. The imperfect tense describes past actions or states that were ongoing or repeated, rather than a single completed event. In Italian, indicare is a regular -are verb, and indicavano follows the standard endings for the third person plural in the imperfect.

Usage of indicavano is common in narrative and descriptive contexts. It is used to convey how signs, clues, or cues pointed to a direction, a conclusion, or a circumstance in the past. For example: Le frecce indicavano la direzione (The arrows indicated the direction). I testimoni indicavano che qualcosa era successo (The witnesses indicated that something had happened). The form can also express habitual past situations in longer descriptions.

Etymology and related forms: indicavano derives from the verb indicare, which in turn comes from Latin indicare, meaning to point out or show. The root indic- conveys the sense of pointing or signaling, and the suffix -avano marks the imperfect plural.

See also: indicare, other tenses and moods of the verb, and general Italian verb conjugation patterns.