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The Indicative: "Imperfetto" Tense

Usage

The "Imperfetto" tense is used to talk about past actions which last for some time. You can consider it the Italian version of the English Past Continuous:
La ragazza tremava di paura; The girl was trembling with fear.

Auxiliaries

Essere (to be)	Avere (to have)
io ero	io avevo
tu eri	tu avevi
egli/ella/esso era	egli/ella/esso aveva
noi eravamo	noi avevamo
voi eravate	voi avevate
essi erano	essi avevano

potere(can,may)	dovere(must, to have to)	volere(want)
io potevo	io dovevo	io volevo
tu potevi	tu dovevi	tu volevi
egli/ella/esso poteva	egli/ella/esso doveva	egli/ella/esso voleva
noi potevamo	noi dovevamo	noi volevamo
voi potevate	voi dovevate	voi volevate
essi potevano	essi dovevano	essi volevano

Formation of the "Imperfetto" Indicative in regular verbs

Take the infinitive of the verb, and remove the "-are", "-ere" or "-ire" desinences in order to get the verb stem:
amàre--->am-
lèggere--->legg-
dormìre--->dorm-
Then add the proper desinences to the stem:

1st conjugation(-are)	am-	-avo, -avi, -ava, -avamo, -avate, -avano
2nd conjugation(-ere)	legg-	-evo, -evi, -eva, -evamo, -evate, -evano
3rd conjugation(-ire)	am-	-ivo, -ivi, -iva, -ivamo, -ivate, -ivano

Examples of conjugation

-are verbs: am-are(to love)	-ere verbs: legg-ere(to read)	-ire verbs: dorm-ire(to sleep)
io amàvo	io leggèvo	io dormìvo
tu amavi	tu leggevi	tu dormivi
egli/ella/esso amava	egli/ella/esso leggeva	egli/ella/esso dormiva
noi amavàmo	noi leggevàmo	noi dormivàmo
voi amavate	voi leggevate	voi dormivate
essi amàvano (they love)	essi leggèvano (they read)	essi dormìvano (they sleep)

Verbs which end in "-trarre", "-porre" and "-durre" are not a problem in Imperfetto tense. you will use the stems "estra-" , "suppon-" and "conduc-", as in the examples below:
estra-evo
suppon-evo
conduc-evo
The verbs of the 3rd conjugation don't show any peculiarity in this tense.
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The Indicative: Trapassato Prossimo

Formation

This tense is formed by the imperfetto of the auxiliary and the past participle of the verb:
Io ero stato,
Io avevo avuto,
Laura aveva visto quel film,
Giovanni era uscito da pochi minuti

Remember that, in case the verb uses "essere" as the auxiliary, the participle takes the plural form when the subject is plural:
Laura e Lucia avevano visto quel film
Giovanni e Luca erano usciti da pochi minuti,

When you want to use "volere", "potere" and "dovere" you have to follow the same rule I explained in the page on the Passato Prossimo. Obviously, you have to use the Imperfetto of the auxiliary.

Usage

The Trapassato Prossimo is a relative tense. This means that it expresses an action which takes place before another past action, which is usually expresses by an Imperfetto or a Passato Remoto: Anche se avevo corso, arrivai in ufficio tardi Even if I had been running, I got to the office late.
As the Imperfetto, the action expressed by the trapassato prossimo lasts for a while. You can think of it as the Past Perfect Continuous of English.
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The Indicative: Passato Remoto

Usage

The "Passato Remoto" tense is used to talk about past actions which took place and ended in the past. The action didn't last for a while in the past. You can consider it the Italian version of the English Simple Past:
La ragazza tremò di paura; The girl trembled with fear.

Look at the following sentence:
Mentre andavo al cinema, vidi Laura; While I was going to the cinema, I saw Laura.
"Andavo" is Imperfetto, because the action of going to the cinema lasted for a while, approximately the time I needed to reach the cinema. "Vidi" is Passato Remoto, because the action of seeing Laura lasted for the istant it took me to notice Laura's presence in my sight.

Auxiliaries

Essere (to be)	Avere (to have)
io fui	io ebbi
tu fosti	tu avesti
egli/ella/esso fu	egli/ella/esso ebbe
noi fummo	noi avemmo
voi foste	voi aveste
essi furono	essi èbbero

potère(can,may)	dovère(must, to have to)	volère(want)
io potéi	io dovéi	io vòlli
tu potèsti	tu dovèsti	tu volèsti
egli/ella/esso poté	egli/ella/esso dové	egli/ella/esso vòlle
noi potèmmo	noi dovèmmo	noi volèmmo
voi poteste	voi doveste	voi voleste
essi potèrono	essi dovèttero	essi vòllero

Formation of the "Passato Remoto" Indicative in regular verbs

Take the infinitive of the verb, and remove the "-are", "-ere" or "-ire" desinences in order to get the verb stem:
amàre--->am-
temère--->tem-
dormìre--->dorm-
Then add the proper desinences to the stem:

1st conjugation(-are)	am-	-ai, -asti, -ò, -ammo, -aste, -arono
2nd conjugation(-ere)	tem-	-ei, -esti, -è (-ette) , -emmo, -este, -erono (-ettero)
3rd conjugation(-ire)	am-	-ii, -isti, -ì, -immo, -iste, -irono

Verbs of the second conjugation are almost all irregular, so you should learn how to conjugate them by memory. Take a look at my list of useful verbs for more informations on regular and irregular verbs and their usage. One of the few regular verbs in the second conjugation is "temère", which I will use as an example and means "to fear".

Examples of conjugation

-are verbs: am-are(to love)	-ere verbs: tem-ere(to fear)	-ire verbs: dorm-ire(to sleep)
io amài	io temèi	io dormìi
tu amàsti	tu temèsti	tu dormìsti
egli/ella/esso amò	egli/ella/esso temètte (temè)	egli/ella/esso dormì
noi amàmmo	noi temèmmo	noi dormìmmo
voi amàste	voi temèste	voi dormìste
essi amàrono	essi temèrono (temèttero)	essi dormìrono

The verbs which end in "-trarre,", "-porre" and "-durre" are, as a lot of other italian verbs, irregular in the Passato Remoto. Look below:
-trarre: -trassi, -traesti, -trasse, -traemmo, -traeste, -traessero
-porre: -posi, -ponesti, -pose, -ponemmo, -poneste, -posero
-durre: -dussi, -ducesti, -dusse, -ducemmo -duceste -dussero
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