perMETtevo

Permettevo is the first-person singular imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb permettere, which means to permit or to allow. As a standard inflected form, permetto, permetti, permette, permettiamo, permettete, permettono correspond to present tense, while permetteva and permettevo represent the imperfect. In ordinary use, permettevo conveys actions or states that were habitual or ongoing in the past.

Morphology and pronunciation

Permettevo is built from the stem permette- of the infinitive permettere, with the typical imperfect ending -vo for the first person singular. The accent falls on the syllable before the final -vo, yielding a pronunciation close to per-MET-te-vo. The form may appear with a following infinitive clause or with a dative pronoun and an infinitive in standard Italian syntax, for example: "Io permettevo ai bambini di giocare nel cortile" (I used to allow the children to play in the yard).

Usage

The imperfect allows speakers to describe past permissions that were routine or lacking a defined endpoint. Per example: "Quando vivevo in campagna, permettevo agli animali di entrare in casa durante l'inverno." The form is common in narrative prose and didactic grammar for illustrating verb conjugation, not as a separate lexical item beyond permettere. Reflexive and light verb constructions (permettersi) are related in meaning but use different syntactic patterns.

Etymology

Permettere derives from Latin permittere, from per- (through, thoroughly) and mittere (to send, to allow). The Italian form permettevo reflects regular Romance verb conjugation of -ere verbs in the imperfect. See also permettere, imperfetto, and Italian verb conjugation.