leggevate

Leggevate is the second-person plural imperfect form of the Italian verb leggere, meaning “you were reading” or “you used to read.” It appears in narratives and descriptions of past, ongoing, or habitual actions when addressing more than one person.

Morphology and spelling: Leggere belongs to the -ere verb class. The imperfect is formed on the stem legg- with the endings -evo, -evi, -eva, -evamo, -evate, -evano, yielding leggevo, leggevi, leggeva, leggevamo, leggevate, leggevano. The form leggevate specifically uses a geminated consonant to preserve the stem consonant when adding the -ate ending, a standard orthographic feature in Italian verb conjugation.

Usage: Leggevate is used to describe past actions that were ongoing or habitual, or to set scenes in the past. It can appear in direct narration, indirect speech, or description involving voi (you plural). Example: Voi leggevate romanzi ogni pomeriggio.

Related forms: The other imperfect forms of leggere are leggevo (io), leggevi (tu), leggeva (lui/lei), leggevamo (noi), leggevano (loro). The present indicative forms include leggo, leggi, legge, leggiamo, leggete, leggono.

Etymology: The verb leggere derives from Latin legere; the imperfect forms insert gemination in the stem to accommodate the standard -evo/-evi endings, producing leggevato-like spellings in this tense for the voi form.

See also: leggo, leggi, legge, leggevamo, leggevano.