vivevamo

Vivevamo is the first-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb vivere, meaning “we were living” or “we used to live.” It is used to describe past habitual actions or states and to set a scene in narrative or dialogue.

Etymology and form: The verb vivere derives from Latin vivere. In Italian, the imperfect endings for regular -ere verbs are -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano, so vivevamo corresponds to noi. Full conjugation in the imperfect includes: io vivevo, tu vivevi, lui/lei viveva, noi vivevamo, voi vivevate, loro vivevano. The form often appears with time markers such as “quando eravamo giovani” to express recurrent or prolonged past conditions.

Usage notes: Vivevamo expresses past habits or states rather than a single completed past event. It is common in storytelling, memoir, and lyrics to convey nostalgia or shared past experiences. In contrast, the progressive sense of “we were living” can also be expressed with a periphrastic construction like stavamo vivendo, which emphasizes the ongoing nature of the action at a specific moment in the past.

See also: Italian verbs, Imperfect indicative, Vivere.

Vivevamo thus functions primarily as a grammatical form within Italian verb conjugation, serving to situate actions or states within the imperfect past and to convey a sense of continuity or repetition in past life.