uccidevamo

Uccidevamo is the first-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb uccidere, meaning "to kill." The imperfect expresses past actions that were habitual, repeated, or ongoing, or serves to set the scene in narrative.

Form and conjugation: uccidevamo is formed from the stem uccidev- plus the regular imperfect ending for -ere verbs, -vamo. The full imperfect paradigm of uccidere is io uccidevo, tu uccidevi, lui/lei uccideva, noi uccidevamo, voi uccidevate, loro uccidevano.

Usage: It describes past actions that occurred regularly or over a period in the past. A common metaphorical usage is uccidere il tempo, meaning to kill time; for example: "Ogni pomeriggio noi uccidevamo il tempo giocando a carte." When describing a momentary ongoing action in the past, Italian uses the progressive construction with stare, e.g. "stavamo uccidendo" rather than the simple imperfect.

Etymology: uccidere derives from Latin occīdere ("to strike down, kill"). The Italian verb follows the typical -ere conjugation pattern, including the imperfect forms, and uses a stem that reflects the archaic root uccide- in its various tenses.