Mio nonno parlava molto bene l’italiano. Mentre prendevamo il ca ff è è suonato il telefono. Quando Carla aveva 5 anni abitava a Roma. Sono arrivato quando il treno partiva. Mio fratello andava a scuola in autobus. Di solito Gianni e sua sorella andavano al cinema insieme. Quando Maurizio lavorava in quel supermercato lo pagavano pochissimo. Mentre Sebastiano leggeva il giornale, io ho  fi nito i compiti. My grandfather spoke Italian very well. While we were having co ff ee the telephone rang. When Carla was  fi ve she lived in Rome. I arrived as the train was leaving. My brother used to go to school by bus. Usually Gianni and his sister went to the cinema together. When Maurizio worked in that supermarket they paid him very little. While Sebastiano was reading the paper I  fi nished my homework. ero eri era eravamo eravate erano I was/used to be you were/used to be he/she/it was/used to be we were/used to be you were/used to be they were/used to be bevevo bevevi beveva bevevamo bevevate bevevano I drank/was drinking/used to drink you drank/were drinking/used to drink he/she/it drank/was drinking/used to drink we drank/were drinking/used to drink you drank/were drinking/used to drink they drank/were drinking/used to drink dicevo dicevi I said/was saying/used to say you said/were saying/used to say diceva dicevamo dicevate dicevano he/she/it said/was saying/used to say we said/were saying/used to say you said/were saying/used to say they said/were saying/used to say Like the present, the imperfect of  essere  can be used with the pronoun  ci  (see Unit 4):  c’era  (there was),  c’erano  (there were). Other irregular verbs are  bere ,  dire  and  fare : 3 Not many verbs are irregular in the imperfect.  Essere  is one: Unit 16 113