spegnevamo

Spegnevamo is an Italian verb form. It is the first-person plural imperfect indicative of spegnere, the verb meaning to turn off or extinguish. It is used to describe an action that was ongoing or habitual in the past, such as turning off lights or devices.

In standard Italian, the imperfect forms of spegnere include: io spegnevo, tu spegnevi, lui spegneva, noi spegnevamo, voi spegnevate, loro spegnevano. The form spegnevamo is the conventional first-person plural variant, while some dialects or older usages may prefer spegnavamo as an alternative.

Usage tends to be narrative or descriptive, signaling past activity rather than a completed moment. It commonly appears with time expressions like ieri, di notte, o ogni sera, to situate the turning-off action within a past routine or scene. While the verb can govern direct objects such as luci, fuoco, or apparecchi, its core function remains the same: to describe the act of extinguishing or switching off in the past.

Etymology: spegnere derives from Latin roots associated with extinguishing or quenching; the exact lineage is complex and shaped by historical phonetic changes in Italian. The imperfect form spegnevamo reflects regular patterns of the -ere verb conjugation, with irregularities arising from the lexical stem spegn-.

Examples:

- Spegnevamo le luci prima di andare a dormire.

- Da ragazzi, spegnevamo spesso il gas quando non serviva più.