Word
La mia amica era molto vivace e aveva molta energia.
Meaning
My friend was very lively and had a lot of energy.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of La mia amica era molto vivace e aveva molta energia.
essere
to be
e
and
l'amica
the female friend (f)
avere
to have
Questions & Answers about La mia amica era molto vivace e aveva molta energia.
Why do we use era and aveva here instead of the passato prossimo?
We use the imperfetto tense (like era and aveva) to describe ongoing states, habits, or characteristics in the past. Because this sentence is painting a picture of what the friend was generally like, rather than a single completed event, the imperfetto is the right choice.
Why does the sentence say molto vivace but molta energia? Why did the ending change?
Is the article La required before mia amica?
Yes! In Italian, you almost always need a definite article (like la or il) before a possessive word. The main exception is for singular family members (like mia madre), but since a friend isn't a family member, you must say la mia amica.
Amica is feminine, so why does vivace end in an -e instead of an -a?