telefonavamo

Telefonavamo is the first-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb telefonare, meaning to call on the telephone. In English, it is generally translated as “we called” or “we used to call,” depending on the context.

Grammar and formation: Telefonare is a regular -are verb, so its imperfect endings are -avo, -avi, -ava, -avamo, -avate, -avano. Therefore, telefonavamo yields the sense of a past action that was ongoing or habitual. The imperfect contrasts with the passato prossimo, which expresses a completed action, and with the passato remoto (telefonammo) found mainly in literary or regional usage.

Usage: The imperfect is used in Italian to describe repeated or customary actions in the past, or to set a scene. Telefonavamo can convey that a phone call habitually occurred, or that the act of calling was ongoing during a past period. If the emphasis is on the process of calling at a particular moment, speakers might prefer stavamo telefonando, the past progressive form. If the action is presented as a completed event in a narrative, the passato remoto telefonammo might be used in literary contexts, while the more common passato prossimo would be telefonoammo? (Note: the correct frequently used completed form in ordinary speech is abbiamo telefonato.)

Examples: Telefonavamo ogni sera per parlare dei nostri piani. Quando eravamo lontani, telefonavamo spesso per aggiornarci.

See also: Italian verb conjugation, telefonare, imperfect indicative, passato prossimo, passato remoto.