prendevamo

Prendevamo is the first-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb prendere, meaning “we were taking” or “we used to take.” It is used to describe ongoing or habitual actions in the past, or to provide background in narrative.

Morphology and pronunciation: Prendevamo is formed from the stem prende- plus the imperfect endings: -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano. Therefore the forms include io prendevo, tu prendevi, lui prendeva, noi prendevamo, voi prendevate, loro prendevano. It is typically pronounced with the stress on the penultimate syllable, [prenˈde.va.mo].

Usage: The imperfect commonly expresses repeated past actions, ongoing situations, or descriptions in the past. Examples: “Prendevamo il treno delle sette ogni giorno” (We used to take the seven o’clock train every day) or “Quando eravamo bambini, prendevamo spesso in prestito libri dalla biblioteca” (When we were children, we often borrowed books from the library). The imperfect contrasts with the passato prossimo, which conveys completed actions, such as “abbiamo preso” (we took/we have taken).

Related forms: Prendere has other conjugations across tenses, with past participle “preso” used in compound tenses (e.g., abbiamo preso). The imperfect form discussed here is one of several imperfect endings in Italian verb conjugation.

See also: Prendere, other past tenses, and general Italian verb conjugation resources.