riuscivano

Riuscivano is the imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb riuscire, third-person plural. The verb riuscire means to succeed or to manage to do something, often conveying a sense of overcoming a challenge or achieving a result.

In Italian, riuscire is commonly used with the preposition a followed by an infinitive to express being able to perform an action: riuscire a fare qualcosa. The imperfect tense riusci-vano indicates that the action was happening repeatedly, habitually, or ongoing in the past. For example, "Quando erano giovani, riusciavano a risparmiare ogni mese" describes repeated past successes. The imperfect can also describe a general past capability without specifying a single event.

The form rius(c)ivano follows the regular imperfect endings for -ire verbs: io riuscivo, tu riuscivi, lui/lei riusciva, noi riuscivamo, voi riuscivate, loro riuscivano. Note that the stem is riusci- in all persons of the imperfect.

Riuscivano can be contrasted with non riuscivano, meaning they were not able to; the negative expresses failure to achieve the intended result in the past. Common collocations include riuscire a superare un ostacolo, riuscire a completare un lavoro, or riuscire a convincere qualcuno.

See also: riuscire, imperfect tense in Italian, verb conjugation patterns for -ire verbs with -isc- behavior in present tense (though imperfect forms are regular).