Unit 16 115 Use of the imperfect 5 The imperfect is used for descriptions of situations in the past, when it is not necessary (or important) to say how long an action lasted. This generally happens with verbs like  essere ,  sembrare  and  avere , and with verbs expressing will, desire or intention, possibility or ability; but it can happen with other verbs as well: 7 Since the imperfect is used when it is not relevant how long the action lasted, it is not used when it is stated how many times, or for how long, something happened: L’estate scorsa sono andato al cinema  25 volte. Last summer I went to the cinema 25 times. Ha fatto molto freddo  per due giorni. Giulia ha lavorato qui  da gennaio a giugno. Ho abitato a Milano  per due anni. Ieri abbiamo lavorato  tutto il giorno. Ieri sono stato in biblioteca  dalle nove alle undici. It was very cold for two days. Giulia worked here from January to June. I lived in Milan for two years. Yesterday we worked all day. Yesterday I was in the library from nine till 11. L’estate scorsa giocavamo sempre a tennis. Quando ero in vacanza andavo al cinema tutti i giorni. Tutte le mattine a colazione Giulia prendeva solo del ca ff è. Cenavamo alle otto. Last summer we played tennis all the time. When I was on holiday I went to the cinema every day. Every morning Giulia just had co ff ee for breakfast. We used to have dinner at eight. C’erano molte persone che aspettavano il treno. Ieri sera sembravi molto stanco. Mia nonna era molto alta e aveva i capelli bianchi. Faceva freddo, in montagna? Cosa volevi? Due anni fa abitavo a Milano. Suo padre era medico. There were a lot of people (who were) waiting for the train. You looked very tired last night. My grandmother was very tall and had white hair. Was it cold in the mountains? What did you want/were you wanting? Two years ago I was living in Milan. His father was a doctor. 6 The imperfect is also used to express actions which were habitual or hap- pened repeatedly in the past: