scendeva

Scendeva is the third-person singular imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb scendere, meaning to descend or to go down. As an imperfect, it expresses an ongoing or habitual action in the past, or a background state in a narrative. The form can also be used with the polite pronoun Lei in the same tense.

Conjugation context: scendere is a regular -ere verb in the imperfect. The stem is scende- and the endings for the imperfect are -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano. Therefore, the forms include io scendevo, tu scendevi, lui/lei scendeva, noi scendevamo, voi scendevate, loro scendevano. The specific form scendeva corresponds to he/she/it was descending or used to descend.

Usage and nuance: scendeva can describe physical movement downward, as in a descent from a staircase or a hill, but it can also be metaphorical or descriptive, such as changes in temperature or light. Examples: La neve scendeva lentamente dal cielo. La temperatura scendeva durante la notte. In narrative past narration, scendeva helps set a scene or indicate a repeated past action.

Relation to other tenses: the passato prossimo form of scendere uses the auxiliary essere, as in è sceso. The imperfect form scendeva contrasts with the present scende, or with other past tenses to convey duration or habit rather than a completed action.

Etymology: scendere derives from the Latin descendere (to descend), a path shared with related Romance languages.