sorridevano

Sorridevano is the third-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb sorridere, meaning “they were smiling” or “they used to smile.” The imperfect describes a past action in progress or a habitual state, and it is commonly used to set the scene or provide background in narrative prose.

Origin and conjugation: Sorridere comes from Latin subridere, meaning to smile at or to smile with; the form sorridevano follows the regular -ere imperfect endings in Italian. The full imperfect paradigm is: io sorridevo, tu sorridevi, lui/lei sorrideva, noi sorridevamo, voi sorridevate, loro sorridevano. The stem sorride- is used across the imperfect in combination with the appropriate endings.

Usage and nuances: Sorridevano can convey warmth, irony, relief, or nostalgia depending on context. It is frequently followed by a prepositional phrase indicating what or whom is being smiled at, e.g., sorridevano a qualcuno, or by a subordinate clause such as sorridevano pensando al passato. It characteristically denotes an ongoing or repeated past condition rather than a single completed moment.

Variants and related forms: For a simple past, Italian offers other tenses such as the passato prossimo (hanno sorriso) or the passato remoto (sorsero). As a transitive intransitive verb, sorridere is typically used with prepositions (sorridere a qualcuno) to specify the object of the smile.

In sum, sorridevano is a common, neutral imperfect form used to describe past scenes and moods where smiling was continuous or habitual among the subjects.