prendevate

Prendevate is the second-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb prendere, meaning to take, to seize, or to obtain. It corresponds to English "you were taking" or "you used to take" and is used to describe past actions that were ongoing, habitual, or setting a scene in narrative.

Etymology and pronunciation: prender e comes from Latin prehendere (to seize), passing through Vulgar Latin into Italian. The form prender becomes prendeva in the singular and prendevate in the plural imperfect, with the characteristic -ev- inserted before the standard imperfect endings for -ere verbs. The pronunciation is [prenˈdeːvate].

Usage: The imperfect tense, including prendevate, is used to describe past situations without focusing on their completion. It often situates actions within a backdrop of time, routine, or duration, or expresses repeated past actions. It can contrast with the passato prossimo, which marks completed actions. In reported speech or narration, prendevate can convey habitual behavior or ongoing states in the past.

Examples:

- Quando eravamo giovani, voi prendevate spesso questo autobus per andare a scuola. (When we were young, you all often took this bus to go to school.)

- Che cosa prendevate a pranzo? (What did you all have for lunch?)

- Ogni estate prendevate una decisione diversa su dove andare in vacanza. (Every summer you all made a different decision about where to go on holiday.)

See also: Prendere, Italian imperfect tense, Italian verb conjugation.