How to use 'Era' in Italian: The imperfect tense

Passerò all'inglese per questo post.

I've been running into the world "era" more and more often as I've advanced in my Italian lessons, and it should come as no surprise, as it means the incredibly useful word "was."

Here's how it works.

Era is a super useful word in Italian, and it's the imperfect tense of the verb essere (to be).

The imperfect tense

The imperfect is used in a few cases.

First, to describe something in the past that was ongoing, like feelings, weather or characteristics.

• Era una giornata calda.
  = "It was a hot day."
• Mia nonna era gentile e paziente.
  = "My grandmother was kind and patient."

Next, to describe something in the past.

• Era il 2020 quando ci siamo conosciuti.
  = "It was 2020 when we met."
• La città era tranquilla quella sera.
  = "The city was quiet that evening."

Finally, to talk about age, time or dates in the past.

• Era mezzanotte.
  = "It was midnight."
• Quando avevo cinque anni, era già un bravo lettore.
  = "When I was five years old, I was already a good reader."

How 'era' fits into the imperfect tense

Era is used for the third-person singular (he, she, it) of essere:

• Io ero = "I was"
• Tu eri = "You were"
• Lui/Lei era = "He/She/It was"
• Noi eravamo = "We were"
• Voi eravate = "You all were"
• Loro erano = "They were"

Key Difference Between "Era" and "È Stato"

• Era - Describes ongoing or habitual past states (imperfect).
  • Era un bambino felice. = "He was a happy child."
• È stato - Describes a specific, completed action (past perfect).
  • È stato felice solo per un momento. = "He was happy only for a moment."