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🎧 Mini Episode 05 – Imperfetto Rebels: Irregular Verbs & Fishy Proverbs 

Welcome back to another mini episode of Impariamo l’italiano piano piano.
In our last episode, we reviewed how to conjugate regular verbs in the imperfetto and introduced a few new ones. As you saw, once you’ve got the pattern it’s pretty smooth sailing.

In this episode, we’ll turn our attention to some irregular verbs in the imperfetto. We’ll also explore a classic Italian proverb (or two) involving fish - one that may have seemed simple at first, but there may be more too it than meets the eye. And since we’ll be swimming in fish idioms today, we’ll also revisit one that came up in my interview with Chiara Brambilla.

Most verbs in the imperfetto are regular. But there are a few very common irregular ones, and they show up often in stories.

The most common? Essere:
And honestly… if verbs were celebrities, essere would be the diva. Always changing, never following the rules, and somehow stealing the spotlight in every scene.

Kind of puts me in mind of someone.

Antonio:
Ehem, Ma dai, Maira! Stai parlando di me?

Myra:
If the shoe fits...

Antonio:
Beh, è vero. Essere ha stile. Personalità. È… indimenticabile!
Well, that's true. Being has style. Personality. It's...unforgettable!

OK here we go with Essere. Io, tu, lui, lei

• Io ero
• Tu eri
• Lui/lei era

Noi voi loro

• Noi eravamo
• Voi eravate
• Loro erano

Remember the location of Mariella’s apartment?
 L'appartamento era al secondo piano di un vecchio edificio.
The apartment was on the second floor of an old building.

Now let’s take a look at three of the most common irregular verbs in the imperfetto. Even though they’re irregular, they still follow a clear pattern once you know their special stems.

As we listen to these conjugations, see if you can come up with what is the stem for each one.  For Fare, for example, the stem is face. Notice that if you took the ‘-re’ off of fare, you would be left with ‘fa’. So we kind of need to bolster it up a little. In fact, ‘face’ comes from the latin because To do or to make in latin is ‘facere’. Bottom line, to form the imperfetto for fare we take the stem, face and add the usual endings, -vo, -vi, -va, vamo, vate, vano.

Let’s put it together with to do or to make … fare.

• Io facevo
• Tu facevi
• Lui/lei faceva
• Noi facevamo
• Voi facevate
• Loro facevano

Now here’s how it sounds in context:

I used to make coffee for everyone in the office.
 Facevo il caffè per tutti in ufficio.

Next, to say or to tell … dire.

·        Io dicevo

• Tu dicevi
• Lui/lei diceva
• Noi dicevamo
• Voi dicevate
• Loro dicevano

Here’s an example:

He used to say that every time!
 Lo diceva ogni volta!

And so, the stem of dire in the imperfetto? Dice.

And now, to drink … bere.

• Io bevevo
• Tu bevevi
• Lui/lei beveva
• Noi bevevamo
• Voi bevevate
• Loro bevevano

Example sentence:

We used to drink hot chocolate on winter afternoons.
 Bevevamo la cioccolata calda nei pomeriggi d’inverno.

And the stem of bere for conjugating the imperfetto? Beve.

All of these regular and irregular verbs are useful, especially when telling a story or describing past habits.

Speaking of which I wonder where Antonio has gone. 

Antonio:
Eccomi!
Scusate il ritardo… camminavo nel parco, facevo un po’ di fotografie… poi ho incontrato un vecchio amico, e parlavamo da almeno mezz’ora!
Alla fine ho perso la nozione del tempo… ma ora sono qui! Prontissimo!

Myra (in English):
So you say you were walking in the park?

Antonio:

Si camminavo nel parco. 

Myra:

You were taking some photos?

Antonio:

Facevo un po’ di fotografie.

Myra:

Then you met an old friend.

Antonio:
Poi ho incontrato un vecchio amico.

Myra:
And you were talking for at least half an hour!

Antonio:
E parlavamo da almeno mezz’ora!

Myra:
In the end, you lost track of time… but now you’re here! Totally ready!

Antonio:
Alla fine ho perso la nozione del tempo… ma ora sono qui! Prontissimo!

Myra:
Well… I was going to ask you to tell a story using the imperfetto — but I think you’ve already done it!

Antonio:
Cosa? Quella non era una vera storia!
Aspetta, Myra. Posso fare di meglio. Molto meglio.

What? That wasn’t a real story!
 Wait, Maira. I can do better. Much better.

Myra:
Va bene, Antonio. You’re on!

Antonio:
Quando ero piccolo, ogni estate partivamo per il mare.
Io e mio fratello camminavamo sulla spiaggia tutte le mattine.
Mio padre cucinava il pesce fresco, mia madre scriveva cartoline agli amici, e io... io compravo sempre un gelato dopo pranzo.

Bevevamo aranciata, seguivamo le partite alla radio, e la sera servivamo la cena tutti insieme.
 Faceva caldo, ma nessuno si lamentava.
 E la nonna era sempre la prima ad alzarsi la mattina. Diceva sempre: “Chi dorme non piglia pesci!”

Myra:
Ben fatto, Antonio! That story was packed with imperfetto verbs - regular and irregular - all used just the way we’ve been practicing.
Now… how about we go through it again together, this time with the English?

When I was little, every summer we used to go to the seaside.

Antonio:
Quando ero piccolo, ogni estate partivamo per il mare.

Myra:
My brother and I would walk along the beach every morning.

Antonio:
Io e mio fratello camminavamo sulla spiaggia tutte le mattine.

Myra:
My dad used to cook fresh fish, my mom was writing postcards to friends, and me… I always bought a gelato after lunch.

Antonio:
Mio padre cucinava il pesce fresco, mia madre scriveva cartoline agli amici, e io... io compravo sempre un gelato dopo pranzo.

Myra:
We drank orange soda, followed the soccer matches on the radio, and in the evening, we served dinner together.

Antonio:
Bevevamo aranciata, seguivamo le partite alla radio, e la sera servivamo la cena tutti insieme.

Myra:
It was hot, but no one complained.

Antonio:
Faceva caldo, ma nessuno si lamentava.

Myra:
And Grandma was always the first one up in the morning. She used to say, “Those who sleep don’t catch any fish!”

Antonio:
E la nonna era sempre la prima ad alzarsi la mattina. Diceva sempre: “Chi dorme non piglia pesci!”

Myra:
Did you catch that last line Antonio slipped in there?
It’s a classic Italian proverb — and while it might sound simple, there’s maybe more behind it than just fishing.

 Let’s listen in to the clip from Episode 3 when this useful phrase came up, while we were discussing how industrious the Medici were.

[clip starts]

Myra:  Quindi, from what you’re saying, Antonio, the Medici took over buildings in Florence to showcase their wealth and power, leaving behind lasting monuments to their legacy. And they had a reputation for repurposing spaces rather than tearing them down?

Antonio: Eh sì! Dopotutto, chi dorme non piglia pesci.
(Oh yes! After all, those who sleep don’t catch fish.) 

Myra: Who sleeps doesn’t catch fish? Ah yes, like the English you snooze, you lose. I guess the Medici weren’t snoozing in this respect. 

Tornando a noi,
   (Back to us) or (Getting back to the point),

[clip ends]
 
 

Myra: "Chi dorme non piglia pesci."

Literally, “Who sleeps doesn’t catch fish.” Idiomatically, it means, of course: "If you snooze, you lose."

You could use this one to encourage someone to act quickly or stop procrastinating.

Antonio:
È vero! In Italia, se arrivi tardi… il treno parte, il pane finisce, e il pesce... è già stato venduto!
Myra:
In Italy, if you arrive late… the train leaves, the bread runs out, and the fish… has already been sold!

Antonio:
Chi dorme non piglia pesci non è solo un proverbio — è una regola di vita!

Myra:
It isn’t just a proverb — it’s a way of life.

How about let’s add some more fish to our net. Here are some other proverbs that could be used to encourage someone to take action:

·        Better late than never - Meglio tardi che mai 
 
 

·        Those who have time shouldn't wait for time - Chi ha tempo non aspetti tempo
Or in other words, If you have the time now, don’t put things off. Don’t assume you’ll have time later. Take advantage of the moment and get it done.
Or as we might say,  “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”

• And there’s one more, meaning Opportunity makes the thief. While it doesn’t necessarily encourage action like the other two, it could explain why someone might take it. Can you give us that one Antonio: 

Antonio:
Certo!
L’occasione fa l’uomo ladro.
A volte, quando c’è una possibilità… anche una persona onesta può cedere alla tentazione.
 È umano!

Myra:
Sometimes, when there’s an opportunity… even an honest person can give in to temptation. It’s human! Da vero!

So, we’ve seen how some sayings push you to act - or explain why someone might act when the right opportunity shows up.

But what about when you don’t act - because you feel totally out of place?
 That brings us to one of my favorite expressions - one that came up in my interview with Chiara Brambilla.

[Start clip]

Myra:

Cambiamo tono per un momento. Hai un’espressione o un modo di dire italiano che ti piace insegnare ai tuoi studenti? Magari qualcosa di divertente o inaspettato, che non si trova facilmente nei libri di testo?

Let’s shift tone for a moment. Do you have an Italian expression or idiom that you enjoy teaching your students? Maybe something funny or unexpected that you don’t usually find in textbooks?

Chiara:

Ok, allora… divertente o inaspettato non credo. Penso che si possa trovare anche nei libri di testo… però per rifarmi a quello che ho detto prima, che può essere difficile sentirsi a proprio agio parlando italiano, al momento mi viene: sentirsi come un pesce fuor d’acqua.

Ok, hmm… I don’t think it’s especially funny or unexpected. I think that you might even find it in textbooks… but thinking back to what I said earlier, about how it can be hard to feel comfortable speaking Italian, what comes to mind is: “sentirsi come un pesce fuor d’acqua.”

Quindi, non sentirsi a proprio agio nelle varie situazioni,
 It means feeling out of place in different situations,

che è come ci siamo sentiti tutti penso, almeno una volta nella vita, soprattutto quando abbiamo parlato una lingua straniera. 
  which is how we’ve all felt, I think, at least once in our lives, especially when we’ve spoken a foreign language. 
 
 

[end clip]

Antonio:
Ah sì… sentirsi come un pesce fuor d’acqua.
È quando sei in una situazione strana, diversa… e non sai bene cosa fare.

Myra (in English):
Exactly — like a fish out of water.
You feel awkward, uncomfortable, unsure of yourself, like you just don’t belong.

It could be a way to describe how many of us feel when first speaking Italian, right?

Antonio:
Ma è normale! All’inizio ci si sente così… poi piano piano, si impara a nuotare!
But it's normal! It feels that way at first... then slowly, you learn to swim!

Myra:
You have a point there Antonio. It’s normal! At the beginning we all feel that way… but little by little, piano, piano, we learn how to swim!”

Part 4: Wrap-Up & Teaser

Today we looked at some of the most common irregular verbs in the imperfetto, brought them to life in a seaside story, and dove into a handful of Italian expressions, all related to timing, action, and yes, to fish.

In our next mini episode, we’ll turn our attention to a little word with a lot of depth. We’re not out of the water yet! Magari. It can mean maybe, if only, or hopefully, depending on how you use it. 

Antonio:
Magari fossi un pesce… così potrei nuotare via ogni volta che una conversazione diventa noiosa.
If only I were a fish… then I could swim away every time a conversation gets boring.

Myra:
Maybe if you were a fish… you could swim away whenever a conversation gets boring.

Perfetto, Antonio. That’s magari in action — and next time, we’ll dive even deeper.

Until then…

Myra: Impariamo l’italiano… piano piano. 🐌
Antonio: Un impegno quotidiano!
Together: A presto!

 
 Until then...

Myra: Impariamo l’italiano… piano piano. 🐌

Antonio: Un impegno quotidiano!

Together: A presto!