mangiavate

Mangiavate is the second-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb mangiare, meaning to eat. It translates to “you (all) were eating” or “you (all) used to eat” and is used to describe ongoing actions in the past or patterns in past time with voi as the subject.

Etymology and formation: mangiare derives from Latin manducare, and the Italian imperfect forms are built by adding the standard imperfect endings to the stem mangiav- of the first-conjugation verb mangiare. The form mangiavate corresponds to voi in the imperfect tense.

Conjugation and usage: The full imperfect of mangiare is io mangiavo, tu mangiavi, lui/lei mangiava, noi mangiavamo, voi mangiavate, loro mangiavano. An example: Durante la festa, voi mangiavate pizza e chiacchieravate tutto il tempo. The imperfect is commonly used in narrative to set scenes in the past or to describe habitual past actions. It contrasts with the passato prossimo form avete mangiato, which denotes a completed action in the past.

Notes: In modern Italian, the imperfect can be expressed with periphrastic forms such as stavate mangiando to emphasize ongoing action, but mangiavate remains a standard imperfect form. The form is not used as a noun or standalone item; it is strictly a verb conjugation.

See also: Mangiare, Italian verbs, Imperfect indicative, Italian grammar.