insegnava

Insegnava is the third-person singular imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb insegnare, meaning to teach. It translates as “he/she was teaching” or “he/she used to teach” and is used to describe actions in the past that were ongoing, habitual, or background to a narrative.

Grammatical notes: insegnare is a regular -are verb. Its imperfect forms are insegnavo, insegnavi, insegnava, insegnavamo, insegnavate, insegnavano. Insegnava appears with the subject lui or lei, but is also used with other subjects according to standard verb conjugation: egli insegnava, lei insegnava.

Usage and nuance: The imperfect tense conveys ongoing past actions, routine activities, or setting the scene in narrative prose. It contrasts with the passato prossimo, which denotes completed past actions. Insegnava can be used in historical or literary descriptions of teaching activities, or to report what someone used to do regularly.

Etymology: The verb insegnare traces to Latin insignāre, meaning “to mark or indicate,” formed with in- plus signum (sign). Through Late Latin and Old Italian developments, it acquired the modern sense of “to teach,” with insegnava serving as the imperfect form for he/she taught.

Examples: Il maestro insegnava matematica agli alunni ogni settimana. Quando era giovane, mio nonno insegnava ai bambini del paese a leggere. These illustrate the use of insegnava to describe past teaching activity.