uscivo

Uscivo is the first-person singular imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb uscire, meaning to go out or to leave. The imperfect tense describes ongoing or habitual actions in the past and is commonly used to set the scene in narrative or to express routines that occurred regularly.

Conjugation and usage: In the imperfect, uscire follows regular -ire verb endings with the stem usc-: io uscivo, tu uscivi, lui/lei usciva, noi uscivamo, voi uscivate, loro uscivano. The form is used when referring to actions that used to happen repeatedly or were ongoing at a past time, for example: “Io uscivo spesso di casa alle sette.” or “Quando eravamo giovani, uscivamo molto la sera.”

Etymology and related forms: Uscire originates from the Latin exīre, meaning to go out. Related nouns include l’uscita (exit, way out) and the past participle uscito, used in compound tenses such as il passato prossimo (sono uscito/a).

Comparison with related tenses: The imperfect contrasts with the present tense (esco, esci, esce…), which describes current actions, and with the passato prossimo (sono uscito/a), which often conveys a completed action with present relevance. The choice between imperfect and other tenses affects whether the action is viewed as ongoing/habitual versus completed.

See also: uscire, uscita, uscito.